The Reluctant Princess
by bookwyrm321
Summary: Zarya Moonwolf-Goodfey never asked to be a princess. That doesn't mean she won't give it her best shot, but there's bound to be some spectacular explosions along the way. Sequel to Mysticon Short Stories.
1. Chapter 1

**I said I wasn't done writing Mysticons fanfic, and I meant it! As the title and plot summary implied, this will take place after the end of the series, and will mostly focus on Zarya. Not everything will be from her POV, though. I can't imagine she'll have an easy time of it, going from street rat to princess, so I thought I'd showcase some of it here. Compliant with canon and Mysticon Short Stories.**

 **I own nothing.**

 **Changes**

Sarren Goodfey had summoned both of her daughters to her office. She was looking over a piece of paper as they stepped inside. At the sound of their approach, she looked up and then quickly stuffed the paper into her pocket.

"You're early! I wasn't expecting you for another few minutes."

Zarya narrowed her eyes. "What was that you just shoved in your pocket?"

Mom frowned. "None of your concern." Zarya was about to argue—anything that could affect her was most _definitely_ her concern—but Mom had pulled up something on her spell pad. "Now, as for why I've called you both here…

An image was projected into the air. "Due to substantial evidence, we have decided that Gawayne is unfit to rule Gemina, which means that we needed to choose a new successor."

An expression of sheer horror settled onto Zarya's face. _Don't you dare say it's me…_

Sarren, noticing that her younger daughter clearly did _not_ want this for herself, quickly continued, "We have agreed that Arkayna is best suited to be queen of Gemina. Since she is older, it was the logical choice."

Zarya collapsed to the floor in relief. "Don't do that to me again. I thought you were gonna say it was me, and there's _no possible way_ that could end well."

Mom smiled at her. "We did take that into account. However…" She paused for a moment. "This must be announced to the citizens as soon as possible. We have set a date for one week from today, and we can have Zarya's coronation at the same time."

Zarya shook her head emphatically. "Again, no possible way. I don't _want_ a coronation, Mom. People already stare at me enough."

Arkayna just hid a smile. _Mom has no idea what she's up against here._

"You don't… want a coronation for yourself?" Mom looked like she was having trouble processing that. "But… you're going to be second Crown Princess… It will look very strange if you don't."

Zarya shrugged. "So? What about this situation _isn't_ strange?"

 _She's got a point_ , Arkayna mused. "Mom, there's no law stating that a coronation is necessary. And I really can't say as I blame Zarya for not wanting the attention right now."

The queen considered the two teenagers in front of her. Both of them seemed far more mature than their fifteen years would suggest. Slowly, she nodded. "If you insist. We will announce Arkayna's ascension as planned, but that will be the only thing to happen."

Zarya nodded, already looking happier.

Before they could react, the older woman stepped forward and quickly hugged them both. "I'm just glad I have you here with me." She took a step back. "All right, that's all I needed to discuss with the both of you. Arkayna, stay a moment, please."

Zarya left the room. Arkayna waited where she was. "What's up, Mom?"

Mom smiled at her. "Are you sure you're all right with this? I know it's sudden, but we really didn't feel like we had a choice. Gawayne can't be allowed to rule, and Zarya is still so new to palace life… You've also shown remarkable progress recently; don't think I haven't noticed."

Arkayna smiled back. "I'll do my best, Mom. I do think Zarya would be a better ruler than Gawayne, but it's not really a high bar. She's got a serious temper on her, too."

As though saying her name had summoned her, Zarya stuck her head back in the room. "Hey, Mom? I like this design the best." She was indicating something on a piece of paper in her hands.

It took a moment for the queen to register what the girl was holding, but when she figured it out, she quickly patted her pocket and found nothing. "How did you… did it fall out of my pocket?" She sighed. "It was _supposed_ to be a surprise. I must not have had it in there securely and I dropped it."

Arkayna took note of Zarya's innocent expression and snorted. "Yeah, it fell out… with a little help from some sticky fingers."

Zarya scowled at her. "Give away _all_ my secrets, why don'cha?"

Sarren glanced between the two of them for a moment, then focused on Arkayna. "What exactly did you mean by that?"

Arkayna pointed at the sheet of paper. "You didn't _drop_ it, Mom. Zarya picked your pocket."

"Arkayna!" the queen exclaimed. "That's a terrible thing to say about your sister."

"Seriously?" Arkayna stared. "She _did_. Zarya, you don't live on the street anymore; why do you keep pickpocketing people?"

Zarya smirked at her. "Because it's fun."

"Enough!" Mom broke in. "Zarya… you know how to pick pockets?"

Zarya stared back and forth between her mother and her twin sister, disbelieving. "I learned on the street. Obviously." When Mom looked at her expectantly for another minute, she sighed. "Fine. You're looking at the best thief in Drake City right here." There was the barest trace of pride in her voice as she spoke. "I lived on the street four years; you don't survive down there without racking up an impressive criminal record. I kept a whole bunch of kids alive, and I don't regret that for a minute."

Sarren looked over her daughter for a long moment. "I can hardly fault you for doing everything you could to survive. But you don't live on the street anymore—you need to stop this."

"No, Mom. Remember how you agreed you wouldn't try to turn me into some kind of Arkayna clone?"

"Hey!" Arkayna broke in, offended.

Zarya rolled her eyes at her sister. "You said I could keep my outfit and my hairstyle… well, this is another thing I won't change. You'd be surprised how often these skills have come in handy."

"She makes a good point, Mom," Arkayna grudgingly agreed.

"…Fine. I'll let this go for now," Sarren replied. "But no more pickpocketing."

Zarya grinned suddenly. "That goes for Arkayna, too, right?"

Mom frowned. "Arkayna doesn't know how to…" She trailed off at the guilty expression that had settled onto Arkayna's face. "Wonderful. As if having one criminally inclined teenager wasn't enough."

The grin on Zarya's face had widened. "Who do you think taught her?"

Sarren could feel a headache coming on. Maybe she'd only known Zarya for a few weeks, but she could already recognize the tone her daughter used when she had no intention of doing what she was told. She pointed to the door. "I need some time. No more pickpocketing, either of you. Go do some schoolwork or something."

As soon as they were out of earshot, Arkayna turned to Zarya, and in a conversational tone, asked, "When are you going to tell her you used to be a sky pirate?"

Zarya rolled her eyes again. "Remember how Em said not to give parents heart attacks? I can't dump all this on her at once; I'm waiting for the right time."

 **I know this isn't the most exciting chapter, but I needed to set the stage for some of the things that will happen later. Stay tuned, and please read, review, and enjoy!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A new chapter for you all!**

 **Strife667:** Yep, they're still in the awkward getting-to-know-you stage right now!

 **Luminous/ShinyLuminous:** If you're not the same person I apologize, but your usernames are so similar and since the questions in your reviews were the same, I'm answering like this. I promise you will find out soon!

 **SolarFlare579:** Nope, Zarya has _zero_ interest in what being royalty has to offer… and of course the queen cares! In fact, my first draft of that scene involved her asking Zarya to look over a proposal that would improve the lives of street kids… but I couldn't get it to mesh with the rest of the chapter, so I ended up scrapping it. :(

 **ZaryaM-pinkskullsandmoonbeams:** Out of all the characters, her voice is clearest in my head… which is why so many of my Mysticon stories feature her so prominently!

 **I don't own Mysticons.**

 **Reunion part 1**

Zarya had started to get used to her new life as second Crown Princess. Classes in the morning, and various practical things in the afternoon. That wasn't to say she was _enjoying_ it. Her messy handwriting had been the subject of endless criticism from their tutors, and her knowledge of certain topics was rudimentary at best. She knew next to nothing about the history or politics of the realm, and the only reason she knew anything about laws was because she'd broken most of them at some point or another. Not to mention the etiquette instructor had nearly had a nervous breakdown trying to cure her of her more… abrasive tendencies (it didn't help that the woman was also the dance master, which wasn't going well, either). But this family meal was something she'd actually been looking forward to.

She made a face as she entered the room. Yes, family meals meant that she got to spend time with Mom and Arkayna—but it also meant Gawayne, unfortunately. She decided to try to ignore him as she took her seat. _But if he says anything…_

The servants had all been dismissed for the hour. Zarya starting shoving food in her mouth as fast as she could—a holdover from her years living on the streets.

Mom was caught up in conversation with Arkayna, but she turned for a moment, just in time to see Zarya shoveling the last of her food into her mouth. "Zarya! What in the stars are you thinking, eating that quickly?"

Zarya couldn't answer with her mouth full, not because she gave a griffin toenail about _table manners_ of all the ridiculous things, but because to a street rat, there was no greater sin than wasting food. She swallowed it as quickly as possible, then replied, "I'm just… eating. What's the problem?"

Mom frowned at her. "Where would you ever learn to eat your food like that?"

There was a quiet snort from across the table, but when Zarya looked over at Arkayna, her sister had a book open on the table in front of her and was appearing to ignore them. Zarya finally answered Mom with, "Where do you think? Out on the streets, the quicker you eat, the less chance you have that someone'll steal your food from you. Also you don't know where your next meal is gonna come from."

Mom looked like she was about to respond, but before she could, there was a snicker from Gawayne. "Wow, Mom, Dad, I can't believe you removed me from the line of succession in favor of this uncultured peasant."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a dagger _thunk_ ed into the table, right next to his plate. Gawayne leaped back with a yelp, and the entire chair toppled over. Using the overturned chair to pull himself up, he found Zarya glaring at him from across the table, another blade in her hand.

"Care to say that to my _face_ , you insufferable, self-absorbed little troll?"

Gawayne looked around for a moment, his mouth moving but no sound coming out. Finally, he managed to whine, "Dad, new stepsister's throwing knives at me!"

Zarya snorted. "If I'd thrown it _at_ you, it would've _hit_ you. I don't miss what I aim for. Ever."

Mom looked like she was about to intervene, but Arkayna spoke up before she could. "Zarya, we've been over this. If you're going to carry knives on you, don't let us see them. Gawayne, generally speaking, antagonizing somebody who's known to be armed at all times is a _bad idea_." She went back to her book as soon as she was done.

As Zarya tucked the blade back into her sleeve, one of the servants walked into the room. Gawayne was the first to notice. "Oh, good. Butler, make me a sandwich that I can take to my room. I'm so over this family meal thing!"

The older man regarded him with a neutral expression before ignoring him completely and turning to the table. "Princess Zarya, per your request, I am here to inform you that the pirate ship you asked us to keep an eye out for has been sighted approaching the palace."

Zarya froze for a moment, then disappeared from the room so fast Arkayna swore she saw a blue dust cloud in her sister's wake. Her voice could be heard floating behind her. "Thank youuu!"

Mom turned to the servant. "I'm sorry, did you say _pirate_ ship?"

He nodded.

She stood. "Well, they have some nerve, coming up to the palace in broad daylight like this! I suppose I'll have to arrest them all myself." She began walking toward the balcony.

 _Uh-oh_. Arkayna should have seen _that_ coming; Mom didn't know about the Pink Skulls yet. She didn't know they were the Mysticons' fiercest allies…

 _Well, at least I've got something to deal with this…_

Arkayna quickly ran through the palace hallways, not caring who saw her. She made a detour to her own rooms to grab something before making her way out to the balcony.

When she got there, it was to find Zarya and Kitty chattering excitedly at each other. Mom was standing nearby, trying to get a word in edgewise and failing miserably. Arkayna decided to let this play out for a minute.

Finally, Mom stepped forward and made an emphatic "time-out" motion. "Enough! I don't care who you are or why you're here, but you are under arrest for pirating."

Kitty frowned. Zarya turned around and replied, "You're not arresting anybody. Don't touch her."

Mom took another step forward. "I most certainly am arresting her. Along with every other pirate on this ship."

Kitty took a step back, all evidence of amusement now gone. Zarya stepped in front of her. "I _said_ , don't _touch_ her. What part of that was unclear?" All traces of her previous lighthearted mood had vanished; she stood with her arms crossed, glaring at Mom.

"Why won't you let me arrest a dangerous criminal that had the audacity to fly directly up to the royal palace?"

Zarya stood her ground. "I'm a dangerous criminal too. Do you think I'm not worth arresting? It doesn't matter anyway, because _I won't let you lay a hand on her without a fight!_ "

"She's right, Mom; you can't arrest them."

All heads turned to face Arkayna, who had gone unnoticed until then. Mom was the first to speak. "You, too? Then tell me: _why_ am I not allowed to arrest criminals after they've delivered themselves on a silver platter?"

"You can't arrest them," Arkayna replied, "because they're no longer criminals." Ignoring the incredulous looks that Zarya and Kitty were shooting her, Arkayna unrolled the large scroll in her hand and began reading from it in a clear voice.

"By orders of Princess Arkayna Goodfey, let it be known that as of this, the nineteenth day of the month of the kraken, in the year of the phoenix, the former pirates known as the Pink Skulls are hereby pardoned of any and all crimes committed against the realm of Gemina, in recognition of their heroic acts in the war against the Spectral Hand. Witnessed by Malvaron Grimm, and signed by her royal hand, Arkayna Goodfey, First Crown Princess of Gemina, Mysticon Dragon Mage." Arkayna rolled up the scroll and glanced over at Kitty. "It's yours, if you want it."

Kitty stared at her a moment in disbelief, then grinned at her. "Hex, yeah, I want it!"

Arkayna used some magic to float the scroll over the Kitty. The captain unrolled it and quickly skimmed its contents, then turned back toward the ship. "Romie!"

A blonde head popped up over the side of the ship. The girl it was attached to had pointy ears and such a mischievous grin on her face that Arkayna was instantly reminded of Piper. "Yeah, Captain?"

Kitty handed over the scroll. "File that away for me, will ya, kiddo?"

Romie gave a little salute and vanished back onto the ship. Kitty turned to Zarya. "So… where were we?"

Arkayna had a feeling she knew where this was going.

"I think…" Zarya began, speaking slowly and dramatically, "we were right about… _here_." At the last word, she placed her hands on Kitty's shoulders and kissed her full on the lips. Arkayna had to turn away to hide her smirk.

 _Yep, totally called it._

Before the Pink Skulls had left the realm with Raylanna to hunt down the marauders, Em and Kasey had agreed to take a break for a while. Zarya and Kitty had not, and considering their current… enthusiastic greeting, they'd obviously missed each other.

A strangled sound from off to the side caught Arkayna's attention. Mom was staring at the two girls in what could only be described as shock, making a bunch of incoherent noises. Luckily, neither of them noticed, and Mom managed to school her face into a more neutral expression before they separated.

Kitty raised her eyebrows at Zarya, grinning. "Missed you, too. Wanna go for some Sky Pies?"

Zarya stared at her in disbelief for a moment, then declared, "Do I _ever_!" She headed toward the ship.

"One moment."

Zarya turned to see Mom eyeing her. "Yeah, what?"

Mom raised an eyebrow at Zarya's casual tone, but replied, "You are not yet finished with your assignments for the day."

Zarya glanced from Mom, to Kitty, to Arkayna, and back to Mom. Finally, she spoke a single word: "No."

"Excuse me?" Mom looked startled. Arkayna couldn't blame her; not many people would have dared to refuse the queen.

Zarya didn't look the slightest bit apologetic. "I said _no_."

Arkayna spoke up again. "Let her go, Mom. Zarya's been working hard; she deserves a break."

Zarya shot her a grateful glance. Mom didn't notice. She sighed. "Fine—but we _will_ be having a talk once you get back."

The blue-haired girl didn't wait for an engraved invitation—she swung herself onto the ship alongside Kitty.

Arkayna watched as Mom threw her hands in the air in frustration and turned to walk back inside, muttering about what _else_ she'd missed in the last several months, which the princess chose to take as a rhetorical question. Instead, she pulled out her phone and composed a glyph.

 _u ttly o me_

She hit Send. Zarya's response came in a moment later.

 _sry not sry_

Arkayna snorted.

 **I personally feel like there's no way that Gawayne would have been allowed to keep a servant with the way he treats them, so after the king and queen were restored, the butler was reassigned to Zarya. Gawayne's not too happy about this, for obvious reasons. However, Zarya's not too thrilled with it either, since she's used to being pretty self-sufficient.**

 **I know there's some people out there who don't like the Zarya/Kitty ship. I think it's pretty obvious at this point that I'm not one of them. I love these two, seriously, and they've been confirmed as canon so I'm just gonna roll with it (no hating, please). That said, I'm attempting to portray their relationship as cute but not overly mushy. Neither of them is into dramatic displays or super romantic gestures, and they've known each other so long that they're really comfortable around each other, so there's not much awkwardness.**

 **Please read, review, and enjoy!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I have decided that from now on, I will reply to reviews via PM rather than continuing to do so at the beginning of each new chapter. This is due to the fact that I never expected my stories to amass such a following, and review responses have started to take up more room than I'd like.**

 **I'd also like to add that I have recently received a number of reviews in Spanish. Let the record show that I do not speak Spanish, and since I'm not sure how accurate the translation I got from Google is, I asked a friend of mine to read it for me. Your support means a lot to me, and I'm very glad that you are enjoying!**

 **I own nothing.**

 **Reunion part 2**

Zarya didn't bother pulling up her hood to stay inconspicuous as they entered the pizza shop. Mama Calamari treated all her customers the same, and it was pretty well-known that all three of the royal children frequented the establishment (although Gawayne had recently been heard complaining that he couldn't set foot in Sky Pies these days without running into one of his stepsisters). As a result, most of the restaurant's patrons had grown somewhat used to seeing royalty at the next table.

Kitty found them a table while Zarya went up to the counter to place their order. "Hey, Mama. We'll take half a dozen pies when you get the chance."

Mama Calamari glanced over at her. "Toppings?"

Zarya considered a moment. "Surprise me."

"You got it!"

As Zarya took a seat next to Kitty, the golden-eyed girl raised her eyebrows. "You sure six pies'll feed the both of us?"

Zarya grinned. "Nah, I just finished lunch. Only one's for me; you can do what you want with the rest."

Kitty looked like she was about to say something else, but a stack of pizza boxes landed on the table at that moment, interrupting her train of thought. Zarya swiped the top box from the stack and in one smooth motion, had whipped it open and shoved a slice in her mouth. Kitty decided it wasn't worth arguing over and dug in herself.

As she continued to inhale her food, Zarya snuck glances over at Kitty. She felt an immense sense of relief at having Kitty back, and it had less to do with romance that it did with the fact that she didn't really feel like she could be herself around anyone else. Sure, she might have a family again, but they weren't exactly the kind of people that appreciated her less… refined nature. But Kitty? She could barely remember the time in her life when she hadn't known Kitty. They'd had their differences, but everything always worked out in the end, and keeping secrets from each other for any significant length of time had proved to be impossible.

Kitty, meanwhile, was sneaking her own glances across the table. She hadn't dared to admit it out loud, but her greatest fear of leaving Gemina had been that she would return to find that Zarya wouldn't want anything to do with her anymore, now that she was a princess for real. However, just from her appearance Kitty had been able to tell that her fears were unfounded. Zarya was inhaling her pizza with the same enthusiasm as ever, and her outfit of jeans, hoodie, and jacket was unchanged. So was her uneven haircut.

In fact, the only difference that Kitty could see in Zarya was the thin silver circlet currently resting against her forehead. At first glance, the tiara's only adornment appeared to be a tiny blue sapphire set into the middle; however, as Kitty took another look, she could also see that there were arrow designs etched into the metal on either side of the gem. The delicacy of the tiara did absolutely nothing to diminish the edgy, don't-mess-with-me look that Zarya had spent years cultivating. The fact that it sat just the slightest bit crooked didn't hurt the image either.

After Zarya finished her pie, she leaned back in her seat. "Yum. So, what's the deal with that Romie girl? I didn't recognize her."

Kitty shrugged. "Little stowaway. We didn't find her until we were already in the next realm. I did my best to keep her out of the fighting, but she's got a mind of her own. The only time I could get her to sit still was if she was organizing something, so I put her in charge of the logs."

Zarya considered that for a moment. "She's an elf?"

Kitty shook her head. "Half human. She's only twelve." She sighed. "I just hope the rest of the crew is able to stay out of trouble. They don't know that Arkayna decided to excuse our past crimes. How'd you convince her to go through with that, anyway?"

Zarya shook her head. "I had no idea she was planning that. I was as surprised as you were when she pulled that scroll out."

"Huh." Kitty considered that for a minute. "I guess I must have grown on her." As if to punctuate her words, she shoved the stack of empty pizza boxes into the center of the table. "I don't remember it being this crowded before. Let's head out."

"Sounds good to me." Zarya headed for the counter, with Kitty right behind her. "It's on me."

Kitty raised her eyebrows. "Aw, what's the occasion?"

Zarya smirked as she held up a small rectangle. "I don't need an occasion to break out my fancy new unlimited credit card." Plopping it on the counter, she began messing with the machine. "I usually use it to buy food for the gang back in the Undercity. Being royalty does have a few perks."

"Uh-huh…" Kitty was only half listening; she had caught sight of something else.

Zarya glanced in the same direction Kitty was looking, catching sight of the register, where she'd scrawled her initials _ZMG_ in her typical messy writing (Arkayna had once referred to it as "foz-scratch" which had prompted Piper to get all offended on Choko's behalf). "Yeah, I use both names now. Mom was okay with me not changing anything else, but she wouldn't budge on this."

"I'm glad you did." Kitty glanced over Zarya briefly. "Your tiara's crooked, by the way."

Zarya smirked. "I know."

Kitty snickered. "That was deliberate? Nice. Where'd it come from, anyway? That's not the same one you had before."

"No, I _hated_ that one and I didn't make any secret of it. Mom decided to try and surprise me with a new one, but she hadn't figured out a good design yet when I caught her stuffing the paper into her pocket and got curious. A little pickpocketing later and the designs were in my hand, and I told her which one I liked best." Zarya was interrupted by her phone buzzing. Frowning, she pulled it open and glanced at the glyph she'd received.

 _mom wants 2 c u_

A moment later another glyph came in.

 _BOTH of u_

She glanced up. Kitty was eyeing her with a well-what's-up look. Zarya snapped the phone off. "Apparently Mom wants to talk with us. You up for it?"

Kitty looked startled. "She wants to see… me?"

Zarya couldn't blame her. Two hours ago, Kitty had been a wanted criminal, and now she was being invited to meet with the queen of Gemina. That had to be a very weird feeling. "If you don't want to, I can say I didn't get the glyph until I'd already left Sky Pies."

"No… don't do that." Kitty was shaking her head. "I'll go. I just… well, I didn't exactly make the best first impression earlier."

"Ehh, I'm sure you could've done worse." Zarya watched as Kitty pulled the ship around and headed toward the palace. After their course was set, she walked over and joined her at the wheel. They made the trip back in silence.

Tying off at the balcony and leaping onto the ground, Zarya was attacked by a small blur of white. It chittered angrily at her. "Hey, Choko! Where've you been all day?"

The foz did not look happy. "Don't look at me like that! You were the one who disappeared on me." He still looked rather disgruntled, but settled down and took his usual place on her shoulder. She looked back at Kitty. "You ready for this?"

Kitty looked like she was steeling herself, but nodded. Zarya reached over and took her hand again, ostensibly to guide her through the palace hallways, but also because it was clear to see that she was nervous. Clear to Zarya herself, anyway. It wasn't likely anyone else would be able to pick up on it.

Mom's office door was closed when they got there. Zarya banged on the door and, without waiting for an answer, barged inside. She didn't waste any time beating around the bush either. "Arkayna said you wanted to talk with us?"

Sarren looked up from her desk at her younger daughter. "I… yes. Yes, I wanted to see you both. Have a seat, please."

"No. We're not staying. Say what you wanted to say." Zarya wasn't going to let this start off badly and immediately continued, "Look, Mom, it's no use saying anything bad; I'm not going to let you—"

Sarren only held up a hand, stalling her protest. "That is _not_ why I wanted to speak with you."

"Oh." Zarya blinked. "Then… why did you?"

"To inform you that the dating ground rules now apply to you as well." Sarren raised an eyebrow at her daughter. "It would hardly be fair for me to set rules for Arkayna and not you, now wouldn't it?"

"Uh…" Zarya had no idea how to respond to that. She'd been prepared for yelling, threats, bribes… but Mom wasn't doing any of that. She finally settled on, "That's all you wanted?"

Sarren shrugged. "Pretty much. Although…" She glanced at Kitty. "I also wanted to meet you properly."

Kitty, apparently somewhat stunned, muttered something unintelligible.

Zarya had had enough. "Okay, we're leaving now." She reached over, grabbed Kitty's hand and pulled her out into the hallway. Kitty still looked like she was in shock.

Once they were a little ways down the hall, Zarya stopped, turned, and waved her hand in front of Kitty's face. "You can snap out of it now."

Kitty's eyes crossed as she tried to focus on Zarya's hand, and then her expression cleared. "Did she seriously say she's all right with us dating?"

"Not that it would matter if she hadn't, but yeah."

"So what are the ground rules?"

Zarya rolled her eyes. "Ten o'clock curfew for date nights, that's about it. Easy enough to work around."

From inside the office, Sarren considered. She hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but the door was open and they weren't making any attempt to keep their voices down. Arkayna had informed her earlier, in no uncertain terms, that she needed to be nice to Kitty. It was by no means something that would be _easy_ , but she could certainly make the effort if it meant that much. And the girl seemed to care about Zarya. _I suppose she could do worse… but I wish she'd told me before that dramatic display earlier._ Arkayna was clearly already aware of the situation, so it hadn't been for _her_ benefit. Zarya would obviously continue dating Kitty whether or not she approved (and she _didn't_ entirely approve) so at least this way they wouldn't feel the need to sneak around behind her back. At the very least, it would give her the chance to learn what exactly it was that Zarya saw in Kitty.

 **For the record? Writing the whole "meet the parents" scene was a pain in the you-know-where. I felt like it had to happen; I just couldn't figure out the best way to show it!**

 **In case it wasn't completely clear, the queen's secret in the first chapter was a page of tiara designs, which Zarya stole, looked over, and picked out her favorite. If you need a visual, I recently finished binge-reading W.I.T.C.H. and I picture Zarya's circlet as being very similar to Elyon's Crown of Light.**

 **I** _ **may**_ **have to change the rating from K+ to T at some point. I'm honestly not sure. It all depends on whether minor alcohol references are considered "adult themes." I personally don't think so, but I'm not the one who makes the rules. At this point, I am planning to leave it as is unless and until I receive an official reprimand. Just a heads-up.**

 **Please read, review, and enjoy!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello… *sheepish wave* I know I've been neglecting this fic lately. I've been focusing on my other story because it's entered a critical point, but I'm most definitely not giving up on this one. That said, updates will probably be sporadic for a while.**

 **I do not own Mysticons.**

 **Quest**

Being Star-Mistress was _not_ all it was cracked up to be.

Proxima had been prepared for complaints about her past use of shadow-magic; she had not, however, been prepared for complaints about her age. So she was only fifteen. So what? It wasn't like she was incapable. The others might not like it, but she was the most powerful Astromancer in Gemina, and while some had only admitted that fact very grudgingly, they _had_ admitted it. Now she'd managed to delegate some of the more tedious work to Eartha, since the golem had been approved to be her assistant. Eartha was wonderfully helpful when it came to organizing the archives, and even more helpful when people started to get rude. A ten-foot-tall rock warrior did a lot to hurry people along when they were complaining.

As Proxima entered her chamber, she was mentally listing off the itinerary for the day. She was startled when a voice behind her remarked, "You know, I hadn't pictured you as the use-the-formerly-evil-golem-to-scare-off-people-you-don't-like type."

Proxima yelped, startled, as she whipped around to see who had somehow _gotten through her spell defenses_. A familiar girl with short blue hair lounged on the windowsill, one arm resting on her knee, looking completely at ease. "What the—? How did you even get in here?!"

Zarya held up several twisty pieces of metal. Proxima squinted at them and shrugged. "What are those supposed to be?"

"Lock picks." Zarya looked inordinately pleased with herself.

"I meant, how did you get past the spells on the door that are _supposed_ to stop intruders?"

"'Cause your spells are only for an intruder using magic. I picked your lock the old-fashioned way." Zarya was still smirking at her.

"Fine, so I need to update my spells to keep out _all_ intruders. Not just magical ones. What are you doing here anyway? I've got a lot going on today, so you can leave anytime."

Zarya shook her head, still grinning. "Nope. You and I are going on a little field trip today. Here, put these on; they're way more practical for where we're going." She tossed a bundle of cloth at the Star-Mistress, who caught it reflexively and untangled it to reveal a pair of jeans, a green t-shirt, and a black zip hoodie.

"Uh, no. I have work to do. Important work, not whatever silly game you're trying to play…"

xxxxx

Proxima wasn't quite sure how this had happened. Despite her protests, she'd somehow found herself wearing the ensemble, and now they were hiking through a forest. She was fairly certain there hadn't been any magic involved, but she still didn't know exactly how Zarya had managed to talk her into this. Where were they going, anyway? She opened her mouth to ask, but tripped on a tree root and ended up face-planting on the forest floor.

Zarya hauled her to her feet. "I guess you're not really the nature-y type." She began walking without waiting for a response.

Proxima chased after her. "Hold up. I don't even know where you're taking me!"

"Oh, yeah. I guess I never said." Zarya kept walking as she spoke. "We're going to Mrs. Sparklebottom's orphanage."

Without warning, Proxima did a one-eighty and began heading back the way she'd come. She'd made it all of two steps before coming to an abrupt halt as someone yanked on her hood—Zarya, of course. Who else?

"There is _no way_ I'm going back to that place! What were you thinking?!"

Zarya shrugged. "I was thinking that it's your sixteenth starday and if you wanted to know who your birth family is, that'd be the place to start."

Proxima reeled, not knowing how to respond to that. Zarya seemed to take that as acceptance and continued walking. Proxima wasn't happy about it, but she had _no clue_ where she was, and magically finding her way back to Drake City could be iffy since she wasn't sure of her starting point. So she had no choice but to follow.

They'd made it most of the way there before that brief pause, and only a few minutes later found themselves outside the giant tree that housed the orphanage. Zarya pointed. "That's the place."

As they approached the desk, a pixie woman with blonde hair raised her eyes from the ledger in front of her. "Can I help you?"

Zarya had apparently decided to do all the talking. "We're here to talk to your boss."

The pixie raised her eyebrows. "About what?"

Proxima noticed that there was a nameplate on the desk reading "Kyrie."

Zarya glanced over at her. "My friend here wants to know about her birth parents."

Kyrie looked over the mage in front of her, scrutinizing her face, then shrugged. "Sure, I'll let the boss lady know you're coming in."

About to head for the portal, Zarya suddenly stopped and narrowed her eyes at the woman. "I thought only pixies and babies were allowed inside."

Kyrie had a look of genuine confusion on her face, replying, "Of course not, how else would any of the kids get adopted? Who told you that nonsense?"

Zarya kept her face neutral as she answered, but inside she was _boiling_ with rage. "Lateensia, that pink-haired girl who volunteers here."

"You mean _volunteered_. Past tense." Kyrie rolled her eyes. "Laziest pixie ever. Boss was _this_ close to giving her the boot when the girl got taken hostage by a shadow-mage and ended up quitting. 'Nervous breakdown,' she said; yeah, no, she's just lazy, self-absorbed… I could go on, but you don't need to hear that."

She pressed the button on the desk and the portal began to shimmer. As Proxima headed for it, she could hear Zarya grumbling, "…Pink-haired little _punk_ … wring her tiny neck next time I see…" along with a few well-chosen expletives.

Entering the portal, Zarya had to suppress a shudder. She hadn't forgotten what had happened _last_ time she was here (which apparently didn't need to have happened at all; thanks a lot, Lateensia) and that was _before_ she found out she'd spent the first year of her life here.

The spider-nanny was waiting for them at the base of the tree. "All right then, how can I help you?"

Zarya elbowed Proxima in the side when it looked like the mage couldn't say anything.

"Uh… well…" Proxima stuttered for a moment, then managed to steel herself. "I was adopted from this orphanage and now I want to know who my birth parents are."

The nanny's face softened. "I remember everything about my babies. What's your name?"

"Proxima Starfall."

For a split second, Mrs. Sparklebottom looked unsure, but the expression was gone before it had ever really been there. "Of course, dear, but you might want to sit down for this."

Proxima glanced at Zarya. _Finally, she's catching on!_ Then the girl turned back to the nanny, replying, "I'd rather not, if you don't mind."

The spider-nanny shrugged. "All right, then." She hesitated a moment, then continued, "The truth is, you are the daughter of the queen of Gemina, Princess Arkayna's twin sister."

Proxima visibly staggered, but before she could say anything, Zarya decided to intervene. "Save your breath. We all know that's a lie."

Mrs. Sparklebottom eyed her. "How dare you?" She paused a moment, considering, then ploughed on. "Who are you, anyway?"

Before Zarya could make a biting comeback, Proxima interjected, "She's the muscle."

Zarya glanced over, noting the small smile on the Star-Mistress's face. Neutrally, she replied, "I am Zarya Moonwolf-Goodfey, Mysticon Ranger and Second Crown Princess of Gemina."

This was her first time claiming her title out loud, and although her voice remained steady, her stomach did a flip-flop. It was worth it, though, to see the look on the nanny's face. Piper had recently decided to prove that she could tell when Zarya was mentally listing off a bunch of cuss words, and had taken a photo to back up her story. (She didn't bother to do it silently anymore. Mom had been _horrified_ the first time she'd heard Zarya spout off a string of bad language, but she hadn't actually said anything about it.) Mrs. Sparklebottom's expression right now was identical to Zarya's in that picture. _Yep, totally worth it._

"So are you gonna give us what we came here for or not?"

xxxxx

Proxima stared down at the ice cream cone that had just sort of… _appeared_ in her hand, still unsure how Zarya was doing it. She wasn't actually physically dragging her around, but somehow Proxima still found herself at this outdoor table. Zarya was sitting across from her, with another cone in her own hand. "This is nice. Wish I could escape the palace like this every day."

"Seriously?" Proxima stared. "You live in the lap of luxury, and you think it's fun to break into people's rooms and drag them around?"

"Um, _yeah_. Wasn't it obvious?" Zarya rolled her eyes. "You _do_ realize I lived on the street for four years? I'm not cut out for the life of a princess; you woulda done way better."

"Except for the fact that no Astromancer is allowed to hold a royal title," Proxima pointed out.

Zarya looked startled. "Really, that's a law? Doesn't change the fact that I'm terrible, though." She shrugged and adopted a bossy tone. "'Eat slowly, Zarya. Finish your homework, Zarya. Don't throw knives at people, Zarya.' Ugh… it's enough to make me scream."

Okay, the homework thing made sense, and so did eating slowly, but… "I'm sorry, throwing _knives_ at people?!"

One minute Zarya was lounging in her seat, the next she had produced a small dagger from her sleeve and started looking around. She pointed at a small cat graffitied on a wooden wall about twenty feet away. "See that cat? He's about to lose an eye."

Proxima didn't quite catch what happened next, but an instant later Zarya's dagger was planted firmly in the cat's painted eye. "How did you… where do you even learn something like that?"

Zarya retrieved her blade from the wall and sat back down, a flinty look in her eyes. "When I was ten years old, sky pirates destroyed my home, killed my family, and took me prisoner. I decided there was _no way_ I would ever be that defenseless again."

As Proxima tried to wrap her head around _that_ , her thoughts were interrupted by a new voice. "Spending the day with another girl, huh? Should I be jealous?"

The speaker was a girl with unruly black curls that Proxima vaguely recognized as one of the Mysticons' sky pirate allies. _Wait, if Zarya's home was destroyed by sky pirates, why…?_

She didn't get to finish her thought. Zarya had called the girl over to their table. "Kitty, you know Proxima, but I don't think you've ever actually met? Anyway, this is Kitty, she helps out…"

Proxima cut her off. "If you lost your home to sky pirates, why are you all buddy-buddy with a sky pirate?"

" _Ex_ -sky pirate," Kitty corrected her, glaring. "We're law-abiding citizens or something like that now."

Zarya interrupted the staredown that was currently taking place. "Kitty, are you here about a job?"

The sky pirate— _excuse me,_ _ **ex**_ _-sky pirate_ —nodded her head. "Yeah, I'm looking at hiring us out to haul cargo. If we can land one decent job, maybe it'll be easier to find others."

"I hope so." Zarya glanced back and forth between the two before refocusing her attention on Kitty. "Look, girl, I'll explain later, all right? But I'm hanging with Proxima right now, so…"

A flicker of something briefly passed over Kitty's face before she nodded again. "Sure. See you later."

As the girl left, Proxima narrowed her eyes at Zarya. "You didn't answer my question. Why do you hang out with sky pirates if they destroyed your home?"

Zarya started walking, impatiently gesturing for Proxima to follow. Proxima supposed she could make her escape now, but… well, she actually did want to know the answer. They walked in silence for a few minutes before Zarya spoke.

"Kitty Boon has been my best friend since we were both four. We used to get into so much trouble together… and when my village was raided by pirates, she was taken at the same time I was. I lose count just how many times she's saved my butt, and I've saved _her_ just as often. Anyway, that's why."

 _Wow, this girl is full of surprises…_ Proxima turned over that new bit of information in her mind. "So… you're still friends?" The answer to that was kind of obvious, but she liked having things stated straight out.

Zarya smirked at her. "Actually, we're dating."

Proxima made a startled choking noise. _Okay, maybe not that obvious…_ "I… I hadn't pictured you as the romantic type."

"Meh…" Zarya gave a noncommittal shrug, then changed the subject. "Did you have fun today?"

Proxima thought it over. The papers from the orphanage were in her pocket (she hadn't worked up the courage to look at them yet), but the ice cream _had_ been enjoyable, and so had the window-shopping that had preceded it. "I… yes, actually. I did."

"Good." Zarya nodded, satisfied. "Well, I'll let you get back to whatever it was you wanted to do earlier. See you around." She turned and walked off. Proxima stared after her.

 _That girl is very strange…_

 **Yeah, so this one took me a while. I originally intended to write this from Zarya's POV, but most of it ended up being from Proxima's instead. Some lighthearted comedy, some more serious moments… I'm pretty happy with it.**

 **Oh, and the whole ice-cream-and-window-shopping thing? That's my headcanon for how Zarya would spend the day when she was younger, since her family was poor and they probably couldn't afford a whole lot in the way of starday celebrations. Now she's sharing that tradition with Proxima.**

 **Please read, review, and enjoy!**


	5. Chapter 5

**I know this one took a while. There's a reason for that, which I'll go into more detail on at the end. For now, enjoy the update!**

 **I don't own Mysticons.**

 **Starday Surprises**

Arkayna didn't think she'd ever been more excited for an event in her life. Mom had decided that there would be a party at the palace this evening. She'd gone all out setting it up, some of the kingdom's most famous and powerful people were attending, and it was already getting underway! Nothing could possibly ruin this for her; after all, you only turned sixteen once! Not to mention she had a date. But possibly the most exciting thing was that for the first time ever, Arkayna was getting to _spend her starday with her twin sister!_

…Or, at least she would if Zarya ever showed up.

 _What could be keeping her? I know she doesn't like the attention, but all this is for us!_

This would be Zarya's first appearance after being publicly acknowledged as Second Crown Princess, and if she didn't make it, all the citizens would be so disappointed. Zarya herself hadn't seemed too thrilled about it. Every time Arkayna asked what kind of food she wanted for the occasion, or suggested going dress shopping, Zarya had simply shot her down, insisting that she had things under control, and would Arkayna just _go away already?_ Arkayna was starting to suspect that was just a cover, and Zarya had no intention of showing up at all.

An increase in volume nearer to the door drew her attention.

 _Okay, maybe I was wrong._

Zarya stood in the open doorway, staring at all the attendees. Arkayna could tell she was fighting to keep from turning and running. She had actually managed to dress appropriately for the event… somewhat. Her dress was the same one she'd worn to Gawayne's coronation, but over it she'd added the jacket from her everyday outfit, which complemented the dress's midnight-blue coloration surprisingly well. Arkayna suspected she hadn't bothered to remove the daggers from her sleeves. She was wearing the same wedge heels as before, so at least she didn't have any boot knives, and the locket she usually kept tucked inside her hoodie was on full display. Her tiara sat crookedly on her head, as was typical when she could be convinced to wear it at all.

"Remind me again why I have to wear this dumb neck trap?"

Arkayna half turned to see Malvaron tugging on his tie and looking extremely uncomfortable. "Because this is a formal occasion? Come on, it looks good. You clean up nice… and you're not the only one, either," she added, tilting her head toward the door.

"Small comfort," Malvaron grumbled.

Zarya had disappeared in the crowd. Arkayna finally spotted her, talking to a woman in a black dress. She couldn't make out who it was, though; the courtier had her back turned. As soon as the woman left, Arkayna sidestepped next to her sister. "Sooo? How're you liking it so far?"

Zarya's sarcastic gaze swept over Arkayna, then over her shoulder, landing on Malvaron (who was still trying to adjust his tie). "Heh, looks like your date wants to be here about as much as I do."

Arkayna shot her a mock superior look. "At least I _have_ a date. I'll let you borrow him, but you gotta ask nice."

"I am not okay with this!" Malvaron protested.

"Pfft…" Zarya dismissed him. "Why would I want to borrow your date?" The woman she'd been talking with earlier returned, two glasses of punch in her hand. "I've got my own."

Arkayna was sure her jaw was about an inch from hitting the floor right now. If it hadn't been for the familiar golden eyes, she never would have recognized the former pirate captain in this pretty court lady. Kitty had traded in her usual attire for a short, sleeveless black dress with a multilayered skirt, the layers alternating the pink and black that was her preferred color scheme, and there was a delicate-looking gold armband on her left bicep (Arkayna wasn't going to ask about _that_ ; if it was stolen, she didn't want to know). She'd ditched her gloves and bandana for the occasion, and had managed to pull her unruly curls into some semblance of tidiness.

That Zarya would ask Kitty to be her date wasn't at all surprising; what _was_ surprising was that Kitty would actually agree to it. She liked all the fuss of court about as much as Zarya did, which was to say, not at all.

Zarya held up her punch in front of Kitty. "To us. Who would've thought we'd find ourselves here?"

The two girls clinked their glasses together then tossed down the drinks. Arkayna noticed that Kitty's dress had a thin belt attached to it… Which on second glance, wasn't a belt at all, but was actually Kitty's favorite weapon: a hot-pink whip tied into a bow with the handle cleverly hidden somehow. Arkayna barely managed to refrain from rolling her eyes. Seriously, those two treated their weapons like little kids treated their teddy-foz.

"It's kind of a shame that Em and Piper couldn't make it," Arkayna remarked. "They'd love this."

"Probably," Zarya agreed. "This is definitely more their scene than mine."

"Why couldn't they come?" Kitty asked, frowning.

"They're visiting Em's family in Rudik's Hollow," Arkayna answered. "It's been a while since Em's had the chance to visit them without… well, you know… specters and Vexicons attacking. I think it'll be a few weeks before they come back to Drake City." She paused a moment, then added, "I'm just glad Gawayne got sent off to that boarding school and couldn't be here to ruin anything for us."

A new song started playing, an upbeat dance number that made Zarya's eyes go wide. Before Arkayna had really processed it, Zarya and Kitty were spinning around the room. These moves were wild, chaotic, yet somehow perfectly in sync with each other; nothing like the ballroom style dancing that their tutor had been trying to hammer into Zarya, without success. They'd drawn the attention of most of the crowd, which broke out into applause as the song concluded.

Kitty quickly took out her phone and snapped a picture of the two of them before tucking it away. Arkayna was more impressed by the fact that Kitty's dress had pockets (she _so_ had to find out where she'd bought it) than by their dance moves. Zarya pulled Kitty back into the crowd; Arkayna lost sight of them for a while and began dancing with her own date.

Her next glimpse of her sister… _this can't be good._ Zarya had cornered somebody and looked incredibly angry, but Arkayna couldn't make out what she was saying over the music. She began pushing through the sea of people, trying to get there before Zarya did something that would no doubt land her in a heap of trouble.

"I told you, Princess, I would never dream of throwing a rock at you," the woman was insisting as Arkayna got closer. Her voice was shaking, no doubt from the evident fury on Zarya's face.

"Why not?! You've done it before!" Zarya yelled.

Now Arkayna could make out the woman's face: Rin Nightshade, the royal caterer. She was inching backward, desperately trying to escape from Zarya's wrath.

"What is going on here?"

Arkayna half turned at her mother's voice. Zarya didn't take her eyes off of Rin. "I want her out of here. Now."

"Why?"

Zarya finally turned to look her mother dead in the eye. "She's thrown rocks at me for years. She does it to every single street rat she catches digging through her trash." Zarya's hand went to her shoulder, tracing a thin white line that Arkayna had never noticed before. "If you don't throw her out of here, I will."

Now that Zarya's attention was elsewhere, Rin had the audacity to snicker. "Who cares about a few street rats? It's not like they're real people."

It took every ounce of Arkayna and Kitty's combined strength to prevent Zarya from lunging at the caterer. Arkayna grunted with the effort. _Good thing Piper's not here to hear her say that… we wouldn't be able to hold back both of them…_

"Guard!" An armored palace warrior approached at the queen's command. Her voice was cold as she ordered, "Escort Rin Nightshade from the premises. She is no longer welcome at the palace."

The guard nodded impassively and began to pull Rin toward the entryway. Mom caught Zarya's sleeve before she could leave and asked in a low voice, "Are there… a lot of people who mistreat the street kids?"

Zarya shrugged. "A few, yeah. Most don't care unless they catch you stealing, but there's some who don't like it when you get in their trash either."

Arkayna was taken aback at the matter-of-fact way Zarya addressed suffering abuse at the hands of others. "You could have been seriously hurt!"

"But I wasn't." Zarya looked uncomfortable with the direction the conversation was headed. "Can we please move on? She's gone now; let's just get this ridiculous party over with." She didn't bother waiting for a response before pulling Kitty by the arm and stalking away from her mother and sister.

Mom met Arkayna's eyes. "I had no idea… that it was so bad, living on the street. We really need to do something about that."

Arkayna nodded in agreement. "I have a few ideas if you want to hear them."

"That sounds like a good start." Mom considered her for another moment. "We'll start in on that first thing tomorrow." She waited for Arkayna to nod again before disappearing into the crowd.

Several of the courtiers surrounded Arkayna at once, wanting to congratulate her on being named First Crown Princess, future queen of Gemina. It took more than an hour to field their well-wishes and by the time they dispersed, over an hour had passed and Malvaron was nowhere to be seen. _I'm starting to see why Zarya hates this kind of thing so much… these nobles will throw their loyalty behind anybody if it benefits them._

Speaking of Zarya… Arkayna couldn't see her sister _or_ her sister's date anywhere. _Probably hiding out somewhere to avoid the rest of it._ Not surprising. Well, maybe Zarya would be able to tell her if she knew where Malvaron had gotten to. She ducked behind a pillar and pulled her phone from her sash, composing a glyph.

 _u no wr Malvaron is?_

It only took a few seconds for Zarya's response to come in after hitting Send.

 _sky pies_

Arkayna's eyes narrowed in sudden suspicion. _how do u no?_

Zarya's next response was a picture: herself, Kitty, and Malvaron seated at a table. Enough of the background was visible that it was recognizable as Sky Pies. Zarya had taken the photo; her tiara was sitting even more crooked than usual. Kitty was wearing Zarya's jacket. Malvaron had ditched his tie.

Arkayna muttered a couple cuss words under her breath—a bad habit she'd picked up from Zarya. A startled choking sound from behind her revealed that Mom was standing close enough that she'd _definitely_ just heard Arkayna's quiet profanity. Luckily, she only raised one eyebrow and didn't comment on it.

"Do you know where your sister's gotten off to?" Mom asked her.

Arkayna simply held up her phone in response, displaying the image. Mom inspected it for a minute then shook her head. "She ditched a party in her own honor? And decided to get _pizza?_ "

"It's not _that_ surprising," Arkayna pointed out. "Frankly, I'm surprised she stayed as long as she did." She scowled. "I'm more annoyed that she decided to take _my_ date along for the ride."

Mom shook her head in disbelief. "She certainly does things… her own way."

 **Writer's block hit like a truck on this one. I knew how it was gonna start, and I knew how it was gonna end, but I had no idea what would happen in the middle until I thought, "Hey, what if there's people at the party that Zarya knows from when she lived on the street and they treat street kids really badly and she totally flips out on them?" (And yes, that is a perfect representation of what goes on in my head. Complete with both literal and metaphorical explosions.) My next update will (hopefully) not take too long once final exams are over.**

 **Please read, review, and enjoy!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Finally done! Sorry this took so long, especially after I said I'd be updating soon. I have been incredibly** _ **un**_ **motivated to work on this story lately. I don't even know why—I have all these ideas and I'm super excited for y'all to read them, but every time I open up the document (which is** _ **every friggin' day**_ **) it's like my mind goes blank. I usually end up only typing a sentence or two before moving on. With that in mind, I'm gonna say up front that there is not and will not be a regular update schedule for this fic, and new chapters will be ready when they're ready, and thank you all** _ **so much**_ **for bearing with me.**

 **I don't own Mysticons.**

 **A Quiet Moment**

Sarren Goodfey made her way through the palace corridors. Zarya and Kitty had declared they were having a movie night… which was all well and good, but it was nearly ten o'clock, curfew time. She figured a fifteen-minute warning would be appreciated.

She stopped short as she came upon Zarya's door. It was closed up tight. She'd _explicitly_ told them to leave the door open, and Zarya hadn't so much as rolled her eyes in response, indicating that she'd actually follow the rule. She tried the knob and sighed. _Locked…_

 _Wait a moment…_ there wasn't a sound coming from inside, and no light shining under the door either. It flashed through her mind that she'd misunderstood and they must have meant they were going _out_ to see a movie rather than staying in and watching it here.

No wonder it was locked then… Before Sarren had fully comprehended what she was doing, she'd pulled two of the pins from her hair and was carefully feeling around for the tumblers. The door had creaked open before the realization of what she'd just done dawned on her.

 _I just picked the lock… Zarya will_ _ **never**_ _let me hear the end of this._

She was about to pull the door shut and pretend she'd never been here when she caught sight of something on the couch in the sitting area. Stepping closer, she frowned.

Zarya was sound asleep, curled into what looked like an extremely uncomfortable, twisty alignment. Her cheek was resting on a thick book. Sarren carefully examined the top of the page. _Morrigan's_ _ **Economic Theory**_ _… no wonder she fell asleep._ Ferris Morrigan was an incredibly dry writer… Marilee Starchaser summarized things much more succinctly and was better at giving relatable examples.

The small foz curled up next to Zarya's head twitched as Sarren approached, revealing a single eye. He squinted at her suspiciously as the queen gently pulled the book from her daughter's face and replaced it with a real pillow. That done, she attempted to rearrange the teen into a more comfortable position, which was harder than it seemed at first. Zarya was almost _painfully_ skinny, but she was also wiry and strong, and all that added muscle made it difficult to maneuver her into a more comfortable spot, but Sarren managed it in the end. Finally, she pulled the small blanket from the other couch and spread it over her daughter's sleeping form.

Choko gave a grateful chirp and rolled back up into a ball.

The Queen of Gemina stood, staring, for a few moments. She'd never seen her younger daughter look this… peaceful.

A soft light from the bedroom finally caught her eye. If she hadn't been so focused on Zarya, she might have spotted it before now. Now that she had noticed, though, there was no reason not to turn it off for the night, even if Zarya was sleeping on her couch instead of in her hammock.

She quietly entered the room, but before she could deactivate the light, her gaze wandered to the collection of photographs sitting on the desk. Zarya didn't much care for collecting things, if the sparseness of the décor was any indication, but photos were the one thing she had in abundance.

Out of curiosity, she crossed the room to give the photographs a better look. There were several recent images: one showed the four Mysticons in civilian form, all with huge smiles on their faces. Another was of Zarya and Kitty.

Only one of the framed pictures looked to be more than a year old. It sat off to the side, nothing very special about it, but it showed a picture of Zarya at about seven or eight, flanked on either side by a young couple. Sarren sighed as she gave it another look. _If these were her foster parents… then I don't doubt she never guessed she was adopted._

"Travis and Cecilia."

Sarren whirled around, gasping in shock as she noticed the figure sitting cross-legged beside the door. "What?"

Kitty only raised a single eyebrow at her. "Their names were Travis and Cecilia."

It belatedly dawned on the queen that if Zarya had fallen asleep unintentionally, then she couldn't possibly have turned off the lights and closed the door herself. Kitty must have been the one responsible for that. "What… what are you doing here?!"

"Shh. Keep it down." Kitty set aside the textbook she was holding on her lap and took a peek out into the main room. Apparently satisfied that Zarya was still sleeping soundly, she carefully slid the door shut. "What's it look like I'm doing?" She hefted the textbook back onto her lap. "I'm studying. History, to be precise."

That wasn't even close to the answer Sarren was expecting. "You… study?" Gathering her wits about her once again, she quickly added, "Also, what are you still doing here? It's past ten; you're supposed to be out of here."

Kitty glanced at her phone. "I still have seven minutes before your little curfew. And yeah, I study. My education kinda came to a screeching halt six years ago."

Sarren tilted her head, not understanding. "What do you mean?"

Kitty rolled her eyes. "There's not a lot of chances for _studying_ when you're a pirate's prisoner."

Sarren shook her head. "No, I know that. What I meant was, why don't you enroll in school again now that you have the opportunity?"

"Because." Kitty raised an eyebrow in challenge. "Primary school only goes up to age fourteen. I just turned sixteen; I can't afford secondary school, not for myself and not for the rest of my crew either. So I have to take what I can get."

Kitty's words sparked yet another inner turmoil for Sarren. Was higher education really that expensive? What _else_ didn't she know about the workings of her own kingdom? It was a feeling that she was experiencing more and more often in the few months since Zarya had moved into the palace. Sarren _knew_ her younger daughter hadn't grown up in the best circumstances, and she still felt horribly guilty about it. She was carefully trying to change things, but it _just wasn't happening fast enough_!

Finally she was able to mentally shake herself out of her reverie. Kitty was staring at her with one eyebrow still raised mockingly and a small smirk on her face.

"Will you… talk with me, for a few minutes?"

For a split second, Kitty looked startled by the invitation, but then shrugged and stood up, carefully folding down the corner of the page she been reading before closing the book. "I guess so."

Sarren carefully opened the door and softly crossed the room to the hallway door. It wasn't until she'd opened that too that she realized Kitty had made a small detour to quickly tuck the blanket around Zarya's shoulders before leaving.

Once outside, Sarren quietly pulled the door shut behind her and started off down the hall. She'd only gone two steps before Kitty snorted and asked, "What, you're not gonna lock the door?"

"I don't have the key." The words were out of Sarren's mouth before she realized she'd just incriminated herself. Sure enough, when she dared to turn around, Kitty was grinning like someone had just dropped an entire cake in her lap.

" _Really._ That's funny, 'cause I distinctly remember locking the door after I turned off the lights." Kitty paused a moment, presumably for dramatic effect, before letting her grin widen a fraction and declaring, "You picked the lock."

Sarren had a feeling she was going to regret anything she decided to say, so she simply stayed silent and started walking down the hall. Kitty followed, continuing to snicker for another minute before trailing off. The silence only lasted for a moment before Kitty asked, "So. What did you wanna talk about?"

"Well…" Sarren tried to think of the best way to word it. "You're dating my daughter, but I don't know very much about you."

"Ohh." She could practically _hear_ Kitty's eyes rolling. Again. "The girlfriend grilling. Got it. Hope you interrogated Malveron too, or I'll be offended. Wha'cha wanna know?" Her tone sounded a little _too_ flippant. Was she… nervous?

"Well… how long have you been together?"

Kitty eyed her sideways. "Define 'together'."

"Ah… dating?" Sarren hadn't meant for that to come out as a question, but really. How else could it have been interpreted?

"Oh. Seven months."

A follow-up question occurred to Sarren. "How long have you known each other?"

Kitty was silent for a long moment. Just as Sarren was thinking she wasn't going to answer the question, she replied, in a soft voice, "Twelve years."

Sarren was certain she'd heard that wrong. "Did you say _twelve years_?"

"Yeah."

Sarren was _shocked_ at the tone Kitty was using. It was almost… nostalgic. "How… how did you meet each other?"

Now Kitty's expression matched her tone. There was a tiny smile on her face as she answered, "She… _may_ have shoved me into a mud puddle when we were four."

A startled laugh escaped Sarren, as she could imagine only too clearly her daughter wrestling with another toddler in a mud puddle. She distracted herself by silently pushing the nearby kitchen door open and quickly busied herself with fixing a mug of tea, then reached for another empty mug. "Would you like some tea?"

"Umm…"

"Or maybe you'd prefer cocoa?"

At Kitty's nod, Sarren carefully got out the cocoa mix, and poured in the hot water, finally passing the full mug over.

"There's a small sitting area around the corner. We can keep talking there, if you'd like."

Kitty was occupied with taking a sip of her cocoa, but she managed to raise and lower one shoulder indifferently. Sarren chose to take that as a yes and led the way. Once there, she carefully settled herself into a chair, with Kitty taking the seat across from her. Something about her posture struck the queen as unusual, but it took her a few moments to put her finger on exactly what it was. Kitty was… well, not entirely relaxed, but not so tense that she looked ready to leap into a fight at a moment's notice either. She supposed that was a sign of progress, that Kitty was getting more comfortable around her now.

"Where are you from?"

Kitty's golden eyes flicked over the top of her mug, as if considering exactly what and how much she should say. After several moments of her silent assessment, she slowly lowered the mug into her lap and began to speak.

"I was born in Marinport, a small fishing village about a week's travel outside Drake City. My dad worked on a fishing boat, and my mom was a teacher at the school. I don't remember much before the day I was playing outside the school with a toy I'd gotten for my fourth starday, when a girl my age walked up and asked if she could play with me. I told her no, and I'll never forget how she glared at me without another word before reaching out and shoving me into a mud puddle, and I'm still not sure how I managed to grab onto her, but we both ended up in the mud wrestling with each other. After a minute we kinda sat back and realized just how ridiculous we looked, covered in mud like that. And… well, we were completely inseparable after that."

Sarren carefully kept her expression one of polite interest. That was more than she'd gotten out of Zarya the entire first _week_ she'd lived in the palace.

Kitty went on, "We used to get into _so much_ trouble together, playing pranks on other kids and getting into adventures. But… when we were ten, our home was raided by pirates." Her eyes dipped. "My parents were killed in the attack. Kasey—my brother—was taken, and Zarya was too. So… I let the pirates get me too, so I could look after the only family I had left." Her expression was practically daring the queen to call her out for her decision.

Sarren didn't let her face betray her emotions, but she was having a difficult time keeping from revealing how impressed she was. A ten-year-old girl had sacrificed her freedom for a chance to protect the people she cared about? Her opinion of the girl rose several notches; there weren't many people, let alone children, who would do something that selfless.

Kitty was studiously looking everywhere except at Sarren as she continued, "I won't tell you everything that happened while we were Kaos's slaves. But it took months for us to come up with a plan to defeat him." She raised her mug again, letting it hide most of her face. "After that, I took over as captain, and I swore that I'd look out for every single crew member the best I could. That was around when Zarya left us and came to Drake City."

"Why did she leave?" The words were out of Sarren's mouth before she had time to consider them.

Kitty shrugged. "Bad memories. Kaos treated her worse than the rest of us, 'cause she was always mouthing off. She did it to keep his attention off us; she took her beatings and never stopped making his life difficult. But she couldn't stand to stay onboard any longer." She paused to drain the rest of her drink, then set the empty mug on the table. "That was the last time I saw her, until a year ago. Dragged me and my whole crew into the fight against the Spectral Hand, and then—" Her voice choked off.

Sarren was completely shocked when the former pirate captain launched herself across the table, upending the mug that was sitting there, and staring into her face with a deadly serious expression. "The Spectral Hand's victims reformed after it was defeated. Kaos might be back. He'll be after us."

The expression on Kitty's face was so startlingly fearful, a sharp contrast to her usual brash confidence, that Sarren was rendered speechless for a moment. Finally she shook her head. "No. Only those who were taken _after_ it was released were regenerated."

Those unsettling golden eyes narrowed. "You're sure?"

Sarren nodded decisively. "Yes. I'm sure."

"Good." Kitty abruptly got to her feet and announced, "I'm going now," before turning on her heel and striding out of the room. Sarren watched her go, not bothering to try and stop her. After a minute, she stood and began making her way through the hallway to her office. Kitty's story had given her a lot to think about. Foremost on her mind was the tiny fib she'd just told. She _wasn't_ one hundred percent certain that it had only been those victims that had been taken by the Spectral Hand after its release that had reformed, which meant that now she needed to double check that she hadn't just made a huge mistake in assuring Kitty that she was safe.

Once that was taken care of (and she'd been right, which was a huge relief; she wouldn't like to have Kitty angry with her) she turned her attention to mulling over the other things she'd learned. She'd heard of the Pink Skulls before—a band of pirates consisting entirely of teenagers, who had a reputation as being thieves but not murderers? That had certainly caught her attention when she first heard about them.

And higher education costs needed to be addressed as well…

 **Kitty, you monster! Nobody dog-ears books on my watch!**

 **With this chapter, I wanted Sarren to realize that Kitty is mostly a decent person despite her disregard for the law. At the same time, I wanted to have Kitty be a teeny tiny bit nervous around the queen without Zarya there to act as a buffer. Trying to get the balance right is also a small part of the reason this chapter took so long. Anyway, I hope that came across the way I intended.**

 **Please read, review, and enjoy!**


	7. Chapter 7

**It's been a while since I updated this. I did** _ **not**_ **mean to take a three-month hiatus, but I** _ **vastly**_ **underestimated the amount of free time I would have over the summer. Unreliable Wi-Fi certainly didn't help matters. Well, there is absolutely no reason the next update should take so long.**

 **I do not own Mysticons.**

 **Back on the Street**

Zarya took her time wandering through the streets of Drake City. With her hood up like this, nobody was going to recognize her as a princess or a Mysticon. She was as invisible to the average citizen as she had been during her days as a street thief.

And that was how she liked it.

For sure, there were perks to being royalty. For the first time in _years_ , she had enough to eat without having to steal or dig through trash. And she didn't have to worry about running away from cops, finding a safe place to sleep, or risking getting beaten up just for existing. She didn't even mind wearing her tiara, now that she had one that suited her so nicely (not that she would _ever in a million years_ admit it to Arkayna). But she still couldn't help feeling like an outsider in the palace. Out here in the city, though… she was completely at ease wandering around these streets.

And even if _her_ life had improved, her old gang wasn't so lucky.

Which was why she was here.

It had become her habit to bring them food every week or so, enough to feed them all if they were careful about where they hid it. Most of them were young; they had been completely reliant on her and Piper to keep them alive. She'd been good at it too, developing an eye for rich idiots who were too self-absorbed to notice her hand in their pocket, while Piper acted as distraction and lookout. Of course, that reputation as excellent thieves was what had prompted Tazma to take notice of them in the first place.

 _And that's where the whole thing really started…_

She was still absorbed in her thoughts when the sounds of a scuffle caught her attention. "Lemme… _go_ , I didn't _do_ anything!"

A gruff voice replied, "Shut it, kid, and we'll go easy on you!"

Zarya decided to investigate. From the sound of it, a street kid had gotten on the wrong side of somebody, and taking care of street kids was her responsibility. Some of them didn't really see her as one of them anymore, but who else was gonna do it?

Two cops came around the corner, dragging a struggling figure along with them. Zarya caught a flash of pink hair. _Neeko_. Seriously, she'd bailed that kid out of sticky situations a dozen times over the years. No reason today should be any different.

Zarya stepped into the path of the cops, intercepting them and making them stop short. From the sudden glint in Neeko's eyes, he recognized her. The two cops, apparently, did not. "What's the problem here, officers?"

The taller of the two cops grunted. "None 'a yer business, kid."

 _Oh, you asked for it…_ Zarya carefully pushed her hood back, letting them get a good look at her face. If that wasn't enough, the shiny silver tiara that was now visible certainly would be. Letting her grin become mocking, she asked neutrally, "Wanna try again?"

The shorter cop looked like he'd suddenly choked on an unpleasant object and finally managed to sputter out, "P-Princess Goodfey? What are you doing in the city without a guard?"

"Moonwolf-Goodfey" Zarya corrected the cop, glaring. "And a _guard_ , seriously? I'm a Mysticon, I can handle myself." Not that she'd really need her magic to defend herself against most of the mediocre thugs in this city, but she decided to keep that bit of info to herself.

Pointedly ignoring the two cops, she refocused her attention on Neeko, who was waving sheepishly at her. "What's up, Z?"

"Hey!" The taller cop gave him a cuff on the shoulder. "Call her 'Your Highness'!"

She cut him off there. "Don't you dare, Neeko. I swear, if you ever call me such a ridiculous name, I will never bring you your favorite Hot 'N Spicy Cheezy Chips ever again!"

Neeko flashed her a grin. "Got it."

"So." Zarya refocused her attention on the cops. "Why are you dragging this kid around?"

Tall Cop shrugged. "He stole a wallet from someone. We're taking him down to the station."

"I didn't steal it!" Neeko protested. "She dropped it and I was gonna give it back to her!"

Short Cop gave him a shake. "Yeah, I've heard _that_ one before."

Zarya raised an eyebrow. "Did you _see_ him take the wallet?"

"No, the lady reported it missing and we found him holding it," Tall Cop answered. "Caught red-handed."

Zarya had to suppress a smirk. She'd fed that line to plenty of cops herself over the years, although it had been ages since she'd let herself get caught. "So you didn't see him take it. And I'm guessing you gave it back to the lady who lost it. Which means you're dragging this kid around with no proof, only your own suspicions. _That_ doesn't sound like something one of Drake City's fine keepers of the peace would do."

Short Cop was apparently a bit less dumb than Tall Cop. His eyes narrowed, but he didn't dare call her out for mocking him. Zarya grinned—another definite advantage of being a princess was that she could heckle cops all she wanted. They couldn't exactly take any revenge, and it was _extremely_ entertaining to watch this guy's face turn purple in frustration.

"Fine," Short Cop muttered. "Have it your way." He eyed Neeko. "You got lucky today, kid, but the little princess won't always be here to cover for you." He released Neeko's arm a little too roughly, but began to walk away, grumbling.

As soon as the cops had gotten far enough away, Zarya turned to Neeko with one eyebrow raised. "So. This is why picking pockets is _my_ job."

Neeko sighed. "Yeah, but you're not really around anymore, and somebody has to do it."

"You're too young for this, Neeko," Zarya scolded him.

A flash of defiance flickered in his eyes. "I'm older than you were when you first ended up on the street."

That… well, Zarya couldn't argue with that. Neeko was thirteen now, and since she'd left, he'd become the de facto leader of the gang, even if he wasn't the oldest. She supposed she couldn't blame him for trying to shoulder the responsibility as best he could.

"Why do you even care?" Neeko went on. "You're living up in the palace now, with servants and fancy food; why bother with a bunch of street rats?"

Zarya wasn't too happy with what he was implying; did he seriously think she _wanted_ to be a princess? "I've been looking out for this city's street kids for five years now; I'm not about to stop. And if you recall, I made you an offer."

Neeko looked down. "Yeah. I know."

"Have you given it any thought?"

He sighed again. "It's just… it'd be a big change, ya know?"

Zarya eyed him. "And I wouldn't know anything about _big changes_ , would I?"

Neeko's sheepish expression returned. "Fair point."

She nodded. "Yeah. But I can promise you three meals a day and a roof over your head, and no more struggling to survive."

"Yeah…" Neeko was studiously looking at the ground. "I'll ask today, see what everyone thinks. If they agree…" he trailed off.

"You know how to find me." Zarya eyed him for another minute, then crossed her arms over her chest. "Hey… we cool?"

Neeko flicked his eyes back up to her face for a long moment before reaching out his hand. "Yeah… we're cool."

Zarya clasped his hand in her own, tugged, and twisted: a typical street rat's greeting, though specifics varied between gangs. She was just grateful he was still willing to talk to her, unlike some. Turning her head for a brief moment at the sound of a car horn, she turned back around to find he'd vanished without a trace. One corner of her mouth lifted in a half smile. _Good to see he hasn't forgotten_ _ **everything**_ _…_

She continued her strolling through the streets. There _was_ a specific destination in her mind, but she wasn't in any hurry to get there. Lost in thought, she barely acknowledged the running footsteps approaching her before she was tackled from behind.

Instinct took over and she immediately caught her attacker by the arm, preparing to deal a couple punches, until her turquoise eyes met a pair of mischievous green ones and their identity registered in her mind. Zarya sighed and let go. "C'mon, Pipes, what have I told you about sneaking up on me?"

The little elf, whom she hadn't seen in months, shrugged one shoulder half-apologetically. "You'd never hit me, Z."

Zarya shook her head, not bothering to hide her grin as she playfully mussed Piper's hair. "How was your time in Rudik's Hollow? Em's brothers still following you around like lost dragonlets?"

Piper giggled. "It was nice, but I missed the big city. Em is staying another couple days and then she's coming back too."

Zarya started walking again, with Piper cheerfully skipping along next to her. "Where we headed?"

"You'll see when we get there," Zarya replied. She grinned. "Wouldn't wanna spoil it for you."

Piper pouted briefly, but didn't whine at all about having to wait. Zarya raised one eyebrow, impressed. There was something… _different_ about Piper, she realized, something she couldn't quite put her finger on.

 _I'll figure it out eventually…_

Her musing was cut short as they turned a corner and stopped in front of a large shop window. The store had clearly seen better days: both of the glass panes in each window were shattered, obscene graffiti had been sprayed on the walls, and a hastily scrawled sign on the door read _Closed until further notice_. Piper stared. "Whoa, what happened to Nightshade's Catering? It looks awful!"

Zarya smirked, a sense of petty satisfaction rising up inside her. "Looks like the street gangs finally got their revenge on those old rock-throwers."

"But how?!" Piper demanded, incredulous. "Rin and Callum Nightshade work for the royal family; they have royal protection!"

"Not anymore." Zarya started walking again. She'd seen what she came for. "Not after the queen found out how they treat street kids. They've fallen out of favor, and I _guarantee_ you it was our gang who decided to strike first. Looks like they couldn't handle it, so they cut and run." She made a face. "Cowards."

Piper was still staring in disbelief at the ruined storefront. "But… just… how?" She suddenly narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Did you have something to do with this?"

Zarya eyed her friend. "Tell you what, I'll tell you how it went down if you tell me what's different about you."

Piper suddenly looked a little guilty. "I—I didn't… it's not really _that_ big of a deal…"

"Yeah, it is." Zarya had finally figured it out. "Piper, you look _older_. Not more mature, but actually physically older. Which shouldn't be possible. What's up with that?" If there was some kind of aging spell on her little elf… A trickle of fear slid down her spine.

"It's… hard to explain…" Piper tried.

Zarya couldn't hold her fear back anymore. "Pyperia Ashryn Elvanestri Willowbrook, you have one minute to tell me what's going on or by the skies I will—"

"I'm getting there!" Piper burst out, shocking Zarya into silence. "It's… okay, you know elves live a lot longer than humans… but we also have the ability to shorten our lifespan if we want. So… that's why I look older. I gave up part of my lifespan and now I'm aging faster."

Zarya was semi-relieved to have an explanation that didn't involve an evil aging spell, but her worries were by no means assuaged. "How… how much did you give up?" It must have been a lot, if the effects were already visible.

In a small voice, Piper replied, "Eight hundred years."

" _WHAT?!_ "

Pedestrians turned to stare at Zarya's sudden outburst. She barely noticed them, all her attention devoted to the girl in front of her. "Piper, that's more than three quarters of your life!"

"I can do the math, Z." Piper was attempting to sound flippant, but there was a slight quaver in her voice. Zarya gripped her by the shoulders.

"But that means you won't live more than another eighty years or so!" Zarya was nearly beside herself.

"So? Neither will you!"

Zarya reeled back, her head spinning. Distantly, she noticed that Piper had tears running down her cheeks. Slowly, the elf added, "I… I don't ever wanna live without you. Or Em and Arkayna. You're the only family I have."

Even if Zarya had been expecting such a declaration (and she hadn't), the sobbing elf had her grasping for some kind of objection… until the last part. "Aww, come here, you little troublemaker." Without hesitation, she pulled Piper into a crushing hug.

Piper gave a muffled squeak from inside the embrace. "Ow, Z. The ribs…"

Zarya held on for another second before releasing Piper, but still keeping a firm hold on her. "I… I just wish you'd said something before doing something so… drastic."

"Really?" Piper rolled her eyes. "Are you saying I should have told you so you could support me on it, or so you could try and talk me out of it?" She waited for Zarya to wince guiltily, then went on, "I'd already made up my mind anyway." She was silent for a minute, then continued in a small voice, "Can we go home now?"

"Sure." Zarya started walking again, but paused a few steps later. "Oh, and I am _not_ helping you tell Arkayna about this. You're on your own there."

 **Here, have some feels. (Dang onion-cutting ninjas…)**

 **I also have a new appreciation for Zarya's knife-throwing skills. I honestly thought it was just a cool thing and a good skill for a sky pirate turned street thief to have, but I recently had the chance to try it myself and it is HARD! Definitely fun, but very hard.**

 **Anyway, please read, review, and enjoy!**


	8. Chapter 8

**I think I've finally figured out the secret to posting new updates faster: have more than one in progress at a time. Can't believe it took me so long to figure that out; I did it with Mysticon Short Stories, so there's no reason I shouldn't be able to do the same with this one. This chapter has actually been pretty much done for two weeks now, but I've been drowning in homework and haven't had the chance to put the finishing touches on it until now.**

 **I do not own Mysticons.**

 **Just A Fun Fight**

Sarren didn't usually like to be idle, but relaxing for a few minutes with a cup of tea definitely had its place in the world. It was also nice to be able to get away from her desk for a bit, she mused. After getting turned to bone for several months, the paperwork had piled up, and she was still trying to shrink it down. She'd done many very long days in the last few months.

She paused in the hallway to drain the last of her tea before making the inevitable return to her office, enjoying the peace and quiet.

"Get back here with my cupcake, you thief!"

 _I just had to go and think it._

Sarren flattened herself against the wall as a blur shot past her. It paused at the end of the hall, resolving into Kitty, who was waving the aforementioned cupcake in the air. A moment later, Zarya shot around the corner in hot pursuit, with a sword in her hand. Kitty only paused long enough to yell back, "Oh yeah, you got a lot of room to be calling _me_ a thief!"

"Gahh!" Zarya waved the sword in front of her. "You asked for it!"

Both of them vanished around the corner.

 _This can't be good._ Sarren knew she had no hope of separating two skilled fighters like them, but maybe she could try something else. It looked like they'd been heading for the balcony. She set off at a brisk trot in that direction.

She wasn't sure _what_ she'd been expecting when she emerged, blinking, into the bright afternoon sunlight. The two of them laughing at the joke they'd played on her, maybe, or possibly sharing the cupcake on the bench. She certainly wasn't expecting what she found, which was Kitty placing the cupcake on the railing and guarding it with her body, while declaring, "You want the cupcake? You'll have to fight me for it."

"Fine with me." Zarya brandished her sword.

Kitty produced her own sword out of nowhere. Sarren let her jaw drop in astonishment. The sword Zarya was holding was clearly one belonging to a royal guard, but Kitty's sword was most definitely _not._ Which meant… she'd had that on her the whole time? That was… mildly disturbing, but she would have had much more of a problem with it before Zarya had moved into the palace. Sarren had become remarkably nonchalant about concealed weaponry since then.

But right now, her main concern was the two girls squaring off against each other with their weapons. They were going to actually _fight_ over this?! It was just a cupcake!

"Yah!" Sarren wasn't sure which girl she was hearing as they swung at each other. She needed to figure out how to _stop_ this before they wound up hurting each other!

"Girls! Stop this at once!"

They either didn't hear her or chose to ignore her. Sarren had never felt so helpless; she needed to stop them, but she had no idea how to. She fell to watching the scene in a sort of horrified fascination. It looked like Kitty had the advantage for a moment, after she'd somehow pulled Zarya's blade from her hand and sent it flying, but then Zarya countered with a powerful kick to Kitty's wrist, forcing her to drop her own sword.

The two immediately fell to hand fighting. Sarren couldn't follow the movements, but it finally came down to Kitty catching Zarya in a powerful chokehold. Zarya clawed at Kitty's arm as her face turned red, before seeming to change tactics and slamming her heel down on Kitty's booted foot. Kitty's grip immediately slackened, and Zarya was able to escape from the hold.

"Hey, what's with all the racket out here?"

Sarren turned toward the voice: Em. Arkayna and Piper were in the doorway as well. As soon as Arkayna's eyes landed on the dueling couple, she let out an exaggerated sigh. "Oh, for the love of Gygax… not this again!"

Sarren stared at her older daughter. "This… this happens often?"

"You'd be surprised." Arkayna quickly shifted into Dragon Mage form. Raising her staff into the air, her face gained an intense look of concentration. A blob of water levitated up from the fountain under the magical influence. Arkayna directed it over to where Zarya and Kitty had yet to land any serious blows on each other (to Sarren's immense relief). The Crown Princess let go of the water, letting it douse the two.

Both immediately halted their fight to shake the water out of their eyes, their anger evidently gone as quickly as it had appeared. If it had ever really been there to start with. Sarren could never be sure with them.

"Hey!" Zarya yelled at Arkayna. "What was that for?"

"Hoping you two'd take a hint and flirt with each other more quietly!" Arkayna shot back.

Sarren very nearly raised her eyebrows right off her head. _They call that flirting?_

"Some of us are _trying_ to study!" Arkayna went on.

Piper leaned over Em, who had her phone out and was recording the whole thing. "Hey Em, who ya glyphing?"

Em giggled. "Me and Kasey are back together—"

"Good!" Kitty yelled over. "Maybe now he'll quit moping around and I'll actually get some work out of him!"

"He says you two are nuts!" Em yelled back, before shooting a suggestive grin at Kitty. "Maybe we could double date sometime."

" _Absolutely not_ ," Zarya and Kitty chorused, in unison. Zarya continued, "No offense, Em, but we have _no_ interest in seeing _Questica Knightly the Movie_ or whatever it's called."

"Rude!" Em declared. "Questica Knightly is one of the finest pieces of pop culture ever to surface in Gemina!"

Sarren thought that might be taking things a bit too far. _She_ liked Questica Knightly (it was her guilty pleasure after she'd finished her work for the day) but it was predictable and a tad cheesy.

Zarya rolled her eyes but evidently didn't care enough to dispute Em's claim. She turned back to the railing, muttering, "Now where's that cupcake…"

She stopped short as the small white foz perched on the railing shoved the last crumb into his mouth. "Aw, Choko!"

Sarren could have sworn the little foz was grinning at his mistress. Zarya scowled at him. "Not cool, Chokster. That was _my_ cupcake!"

"No it wasn't!" Kitty interrupted. "I won that thing fair and square; it was mine!" She glared at Choko. "You owe me another cupcake."

Choko only stuck out his tongue mockingly. Zarya picked him up, and he scrambled up her arm to perch on her shoulder. "Really, Choko?"

 **Just a lighthearted little scene for you today… hope you like it!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Yep, it's been a while. But not three months this time, so I'll call it a win.**

 **I do not own Mysticons. I'm just having some fun playing around with the characters and the universe (both of which are amazing!).**

 **Unexpected Arrival**

Zarya was bored out of her mind.

This scheme of Mom's to have people come to the palace and talk with the royals wasn't a _bad_ one, necessarily. Zarya was actually very happy that the royal family was taking the time to hear the concerns of the citizens, which was mostly due to her own influence.

But why did she need to be here for it?

There was no doubt that the people asking favors from the royals were simply wasting their time. Zarya excelled at time-wasting—she knew what it looked like.

The never-ending parade of citizens was getting old, real quick.

The current question was something dim-witted about judging a flower-arranging contest. _Seriously, of all the stupid, irrelevant things…_ Zarya's fingers twitched, and she wished she hadn't left her phone in her rooms.

The flower lady finally left, and the queen nodded to the footman at the door. He opened it, allowing a tall blonde girl and a pink-haired boy to lead in a group of about a dozen young children.

Zarya raised her eyebrows, suddenly alert. _They actually decided to go through with it, huh?_ Neeko and Kass met her eyes briefly, then turned their attention to the rest of the royal family. _Good call_. Not letting on that they knew her would help keep an ace up their sleeves.

She quickly looked over the kids. Eleven-year-old Owen was flanked on either side by his little sisters, Brynn and Thea. Little Lucy was clearly terrified; her eyes darted around the room fearfully, her fox ears were pinned flat against her head, and her tail trembled slightly. She was huddled into Zayne, and the bigger boy, as always, had one arm curled protectively around the little kitsune. Jasper had his usual suspicious scowl on his face, and Selenite looked like he was trying hard not to appear too nervous. Adelle was squinting at the royal personages at the front of the room; she'd never admit to needing glasses, because where was she going to find them on the streets? Dark-haired Evie crossed her arms and stared sullenly; her ever-present shadow, Brennan, hovered a couple steps behind her.

The last member of the little troop Zarya didn't recognize: a girl of about eight years old, with fiery red hair pulled into a messy ponytail. She must have been new.

"What is it you want?" the queen was asking them.

"We…" Kass began hesitantly, before steeling herself and continuing. "We want jobs here, in the palace."

"Ahhh…" Sarren looked confused. "Why."

Kass glared. "Because we've had enough of scrabbling to survive on the street and we want a better life for ourselves."

Sarren paused in picking up something from the table next to her and gave the group her full attention. "You're a street gang?"

Kass nodded.

"Are you the leader?"

"Oh. No," Kass answered. She glanced over at Neeko, who shrugged and took a step forward.

"I guess I am."

Sarren's eyes narrowed. "You _guess_? You don't know?"

Neeko glanced over at Zarya for the briefest of moments. She gave him a tiny nod. He continued, "Our leader had to leave us recently, so yeah."

"Well, what happened to him?" Sarren demanded impatiently.

"Not him. _Her_ ," Neeko answered. "And… she's sitting right next to you."

Zarya took her cue and stood up before Mom could put the pieces together. "I claim full responsibility for all of them." She nearly burst into laughter at the expression on Mom's face. "We'll be down in the kitchen if you need us," she went on, barely able to contain her delight about ditching the rest of the day. "Come on, gang, let's go stuff our faces."

xxxxx

Unlimited food went a long way toward softening some of the more suspicious expressions. Zarya knew it would—the only reason these kids had ever started to trust her was because she stole food for them.

She glanced at the time on her phone. The queen's time of meeting with the citizens had to be almost over. Zarya was betting Mom would come down here next, to yell at her for bringing a bunch of street kids into the palace. _Don't care… it'll be worth it to know they're safe._

Her suspicions were pretty spot-on. It was only a few minutes later that Sarren appeared in the doorway. Kass and Jasper glared at her, while Lucy hid behind Zayne, peeking out from behind her protector at the queen.

Zarya quickly got to her feet, positioning herself so that she was between her mother and her charges.

Sarren spoke slowly, as though she couldn't quite believe she was saying this. "I will grant you all places here in the palace, if you wish."

She paused, as though waiting for some sort of acknowledgement. When none came, she sighed and continued, "One at a time, please tell me your names and ages."

"Seriously?" Zarya stared. "Why don't you just have them write it down? I won't take nearly as long."

"Ah… they know how to write?" Sarren asked in disbelief.

Zarya's stare turned into a glare, but before she could say anything, another voice spoke up angrily. "Some of us _were_ educated, you know," Kass nearly shouted. "Before society decided we were no better than trash and tossed us into the street."

Sarren turned to stare at the blonde girl. "Well, if you don't mind talking then I suppose we'll start with you. What's your name?"

"Kass," the girl growled back. "Kassidy Rainspinner. You know the name of Brielle Rainspinner, the architect who designed the bridge at the southern end of Drake City?"

Kass was hurling the words at the queen like weapons. Zarya had never seen the quiet, bookish act like this before.

Sarren blinked in confusion. "Brielle Rainspinner? But… she was killed in an explosion two years ago, along with her husband and daughter. The explosion was deemed an accident."

"No," Kass insisted. "My parents died in the explosion. _I_ survived. And ended up tossed out with nothing but the clothes on my back." She was rubbing her left arm as she spoke, almost unconsciously. Zarya knew her long sleeves weren't just for warmth; they also hid a series of frightening-looking burn scars that Kass didn't like people seeing. The explosion that had killed Kass's family had also burned off all her hair and ravaged her arm, but the flames somehow hadn't touched the rest of her body. Zarya couldn't blame the girl for it; she preferred to keep her own scars hidden as well.

After finding Kass in the street two years ago, sobbing and covered in soot, Zarya had gone on a rampage. She'd very nearly gotten caught stealing some burn medicine from a shop, but she'd managed to lose her pursuers in the Undercity, and Kass had needed the medicine. No regrets.

Zarya had to give her mom credit—the queen barely flinched at Kass's death glare.

Before Kass could continue (probably with something biting), Owen interjected with, "I have an education too."

Sarren turned to him, raising her brows expectantly.

"I'm Owen Stark. These are my sisters, Brynn and Thea." He indicated each girl as he said their names. "Brynn is nine, Thea's eight, and I'm eleven."

Zarya knew that these kids had actually had a happy life until a few years ago. They'd lived with their father, just outside the city, but when he'd died suddenly, the landlord had thrown all three of them out.

Owen continued, "I learned how to read and write and do math at school, and I mostly taught them too."

Zayne spoke up next. "I'm Zayne. I think I'm nine." Sarren looked startled at that. Zayne was very tall and broad for his age, probably due to the fact that one of his parents had been a troll. He wasn't sure which one, since he didn't remember either of them. His heritage wasn't obvious unless you noticed how his skin took on a greenish tinge when he was emotional; he appeared human most of the time.

"This is Lucy. We think she's four." Lucy was still shaking in fear, but managed to peek around Zayne long enough for Sarren to get a look at her. It had been three years since Zayne had found the little girl, barely more than a baby at the time, and insisted that the gang take her in. Zarya and Piper had never been able to find out anything from her, and had eventually come to the conclusion that she'd been abandoned. Zayne had made it his personal mission to become the girl's protector, starting with giving her a name, and now the two were inseparable.

It took over an hour for Sarren to retrieve the information she wanted from the kids, because they kept getting distracted. Zarya knew their stories already, every single one of them. Even Deirdre Fairwood, the fiery-haired recent addition to the group, had seemed skeptical at first, but evidently Kass and Neeko's judgement was good enough for her to trust Zarya with her story. She was seven, and had lived with her aunt for four years, until six months ago when her aunt had taken Deirdre to Drake City and simply left her there. She hadn't shared the aunt's name, which was good, because Zarya had the resources to track her down and it wouldn't have gone well for her.

Brennan and Evie had both lived on the street their whole lives. They'd known each other longer than Zarya had lived in Drake City, and had been somewhat reluctant to let her take them in. It had only been after a failed attempt at pickpocketing that Drake City PD had caught onto them, and they'd turned to a street gang for protection. Both were about ten; Evie was the more vocal of the two.

Selenite Fortuna had come to Drake City looking for his aunt and uncle after his parents had been caught in a mine collapse. His family had moved without leaving any forwarding address, and Selenite had found himself with no place else to go but the street. Zarya found him, shivering in a rainstorm, and told him about the Undercity.

Adelle and Jasper had both been with Neeko when he'd fallen in with Zarya. All three of them had never known any life but scrounging food and sleeping where they could. That was about to change.

They were finally, _finally_ finished. Zarya stood, hauling a plate of extra sandwiches with her. "Okay, gang. You'll stay with me until something better gets set up for you. Thea, grab those cookies, will ya? Brennan, that plate is _not_ pawnable; leave it. Lucy, make sure you keep a tight hold on Zayne's hand until you know your way around. This palace is a total maze, I swear!"

Zarya didn't see her mother gaping in astonishment at the way she was acting. She led the group of kids through the corridors. For some reason, Mom had come with them. Zarya heard her softly ask Neeko, "Do… do _you_ know how to read and write?"

"'Course I do," Neeko answered. His tone was guarded, but Zarya doubted Mom would notice.

"But… you said you lived on the streets your whole life. So who taught you?"

Zarya could practically hear Neeko's eyes rolling. "Zarya did. And Kass, to an extent, but it was mostly Zarya. She taught me, and everyone else who didn't already know how, and maybe we're not very good at it, but it's something."

Sarren was silent for the rest of the time it took to reach Zarya's rooms.

"Here we go!" Zarya opened her door and watched as all the kids piled inside. "Make yourselves at home."

Sarren was still lurking outside the room. "Zarya, may I see you in the hall for a moment?"

"In a minute. Neeko, Kass, you'll help me keep an eye on the younger ones, right?" As she expected, both nodded. "Awesome. Piper should be here any minute; I'm actually surprised she hasn't shown yet." Zarya did one last head count and then stepped out into the corridor, closing the door behind her and planting herself in front of it.

"Zarya…" Mom began, "are you sure it's… _wise_ to have a group of street thieves move into the palace."

Zarya narrowed her eyes. "What are you implying?"

"Ah…" Mom was clearly trying to choose her words delicately. "I am… a little worried that some of them… might try to steal from us."

Zarya glared. "They won't. I haven't stolen anything since I moved into the palace; I don't need to anymore. Stealing is about _survival_ , and if they can survive without stealing, they will. I'm _not_ turning them back out on the street."

"But—" Sarren began. Zarya cut her off.

"NO! I will never, _ever_ turn my back on people who need me!"

Sarren flinched back. She had never heard Zarya talk like that before. Something about her daughter suddenly became crystal clear: she would fight to the death to protect anybody she saw as one of her own. Arguing with her over this would be pointless.

"All right."

Zarya glanced back up, suspicious.

Sarren went on, "If you can guarantee me that there will be no criminal activity occurring, then… I can find places for them all. Is there… anything I should know about them?"

Zarya still looked a bit skeptical, but she finally slumped against the wall, crossed her arms over her chest, and replied, "Kass likes books. She loves reading stories, and writing things. If any of the palace scribes need an apprentice, that'd be a good place for her." She thought a minute. "Lucy is too young for much actual work, but as long as you let her tag along with Zayne, she'll be all right. Zayne will be pretty okay with anything as long as he can look after her. Don't try to separate Evie and Brennan either. They'll probably do well in the kitchen. Adelle needs glasses, but I'm not sure how badly; she doesn't like to talk about it. She could be a messenger as long as she doesn't need to pay attention to detail." She paused a minute. "Shouldn't you be writing this down?"

"Oh, yes, I should." Sarren quickly retrieved her phone and began entering the information. "Continue."

"Neeko, Owen, and Brynn might like to train to be guards. Oh, Neeko and Selenite both have some magical talent, they need training. Speaking of, _all_ the kids need schooling. Kass has the most education, more than me even, and she still would've had one more year of primary school to go."

Sarren dutifully recorded everything Zarya said, then carefully saved the file. "Thank you. I… you know, maybe it _will_ be good to have some young people around for a change. I will do my best to find them all places that suit them." She headed off down the hall in the direction of her office, purpose in her step.

Conversation over, Zarya reentered her room to find Piper sitting on her couch, juggling some pillows as the kids watched in awe. Piper waved to Zarya, nearly dropping one, before catching them all neatly and dipping into a bow. "Thank you, thank you."

"Hey Pipes." Zarya eyed the open window, and very deliberately did not ask. She would have done the same thing. "So, how's this for a reunion?"

 **This chapter sat ninety percent finished for two weeks due to my frankly ridiculous homework load. Don't ever go to college; you'll never have any free time again. (Kidding; I** _ **love**_ **college, and I've actually managed to work out my schedule so I have a fair amount of free time every semester.) I hope the fact that it's a nice long one will make up for that somewhat. And if you can find the Avatar reference I snuck in here, you are awesome and I am sending all the virtual chocolate your way!**

 **Please leave a review, feedback makes me happy!**


	10. Chapter 10

**It's been a while. Partly that's because I've been dealing with both a new job and a move, but it's also partly because the Wi-Fi in my new apartment has FF blocked. I can still read stories and leave reviews using the app, but I can't post new chapters or PM without finding a public network. If you PM me, I won't receive any notification of it, so I'll get back to you when I can.**

 **I don't own Mysticons; I'm just playing around with the characters.**

 **Work Day**

Zarya quickly wove her way through the palace hallways. Kitty had sent her a glyph this morning saying that it had been a while since any serious maintenance had been done to the vessel, it was time to tackle that, and was Zarya interested in helping out? Usually, that kind of thing fell to the crew, and Zarya technically wasn't crew anymore, but this was something she could do to prove to her old friends that becoming a princess hadn't changed her. She wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty…

"Hey, where ya goin'?" Piper's voice sounded behind her.

"Out to the balcony," Zarya answered without turning around. "Kitty's pulled up outside, and the whole crew is gonna do some cleaning and repairs."

"Ooh, sounds fun!" That was Em. "Can I come?"

Zarya turned around. Arkayna was there too, but Zarya ignored her sister's presence for a moment and directed her next words toward Em. "This is serious work. Not a chance for you to make out with your boyfriend."

"I wouldn't do that!" Em protested.

Zarya raised a single skeptical eyebrow. Em crossed her arms over her chest and glared back.

"Oh, like you aren't using this as an opportunity to make out with your girlfriend?" Arkayna remarked slyly.

"Except… I'm not," Zarya answered, annoyed that Arkayna was taking Em's side. "I'm going to do _actual work_. This isn't something I'm doing just for the fun of it, you know."

"Where are you girls going?"

 _Seriously?!_ Zarya turned back around. Mom stood there, waiting on an answer. "If you must know, Kitty wants my help to do some ship maintenance. Now, don't you nosy people have somewhere to be that _isn't_ giving me a hard time?"

She didn't wait for an answer, just turned back around and resumed her trek to her destination.

In hindsight, maybe that wasn't such a good idea. Mom and the other girls followed her at a short distance. Zarya rolled her eyes, knowing they couldn't see it. She was used to that kind of clinginess from Piper, but the elf had gotten out of the habit recently. She really was growing up…

Reaching the ship hovering right off the balcony, Zarya vaulted over the railing and onto the deck with practiced ease.

Kitty seemed to have expected such an entrance; she didn't look the slightest bit fazed. "Oh good, you made it. I wasn't sure you would. We're about to start in with…" She trailed off, her eyes focusing on something behind Zarya.

Knowing what she would find, Zarya turned around to see four heads peering over the side, with hopeful expressions on their faces. Kitty raised an eyebrow at them and spoke in a soft tone to Zarya. "You invited them along?"

"No." Zarya shook her head emphatically, though she kept her voice low enough that they wouldn't hear. "I didn't invite them; they just… followed me. Help me get rid of them?"

"I dunno…" Kitt eyed the interlopers. "This might be fun." She raised her voice. "Hey, come aboard! I could use some extra hands!"

Zarya didn't so much as flinch as Kitty's loud tone, or the subsequent squeals from Piper. Suppressing a sigh as the others boarded the ship and arrayed themselves next to her, she waited for Kitty to tell her what her first task would be.

"Piper… I need somebody agile to go check the hull, make sure we don't need to patch up any cracks. You up for it?" Kitty stood with her hands on her hips, addressing the elf.

Piper saluted exaggeratedly. "On it!" She immediately scampered off, grabbing hold of one of the ropes and flipping over the side of the ship.

"Arkayna…" Zarya saw Mom's startled expression at Kitty addressing the princess by her first name, and tried hard to hide her satisfaction. "Go help out Tuck and Zander with moving things so we can clean around them. Ah… and feel free to use any magic to do it." She indicated the burly twins, who at nineteen were the oldest of the crew, hefting some crates and clearly trying to outdo each other.

Arkayna nodded decisively. "Yes, I can do that." She turned and strode away, heading for the two.

Zarya was getting impatient. "Kitty, what is it you want _me_ to do?"

Kitty's eyes flicked to Zarya for a short minute, then flickered behind her. She pointed, one corner of her mouth quirking up in a half smile. "How about you start with breaking up the lovebirds?"

 _Huh?_ Zarya turned slightly, then rolled her eyes. Em had somehow sneaked away while Kitty was focused on Piper and Arkayna, and now she and Kasey were making googly eyes at each other. Shifting into Mysticon form, Zarya nocked a magical arrow and aimed it toward the couple. The bolt of pure magic flew between the two, lodging in the side of the ship with a satisfying _thunk_ and making the couple leap back from each other in surprise.

Zarya grinned at them as she shifted back to herself; now _this_ was a job she could get behind. "Just a warning shot, lovebirds! Now break it up! We've got real work to do here!"

Kitty was eyeing the two with a semi-amused expression, before she turned back to Zarya. "Please tell me _we_ aren't that disgusting."

"Nah, there's no way." Zarya's attention was still on Em, as Kasey returned to his own assigned task.

Kitty raised one brow at Em. "Our engine's been acting a little wonky lately. Mind checking it out for me?" She held out a small toolkit. Em took the kit, checked it over, then nodded and extracted a wrench, spinning it experimentally in her hand.

"Oh, yeah. I can do that, no problem."

Zarya watched Em as the dwarf headed belowdecks to the engine compartment. Kitty finally turned back from supervising the work at hand. "Looks like I've got somebody on everything but mending sailcloth. You two can do that."

 _What?!_ Zarya was sure her disbelief showed on her face. Mending sailcloth? _Babies_ could do that; it was the single easiest job on a skyship. Seriously, that had been the first thing the older crew members had shown them how to do when they'd been newly captured, and now Kitty wanted her to go back to _that_? But she wasn't going to argue with the captain. Steeling herself, she nodded.

"Can you handle that?"

Zarya didn't get it, she'd just said she'd do the stupid sailcloth. Why was Kitty asking her if she could handle it? She'd glanced over at the pile of discarded sails, but now turned back to see that Kitty wasn't paying her any attention. Confused, Zarya turned her gaze in the direction Kitty was looking. _Oh_.

Sarren seemed to steel herself, then nodded. "I… can figure it out."

Kitty looked a little bit skeptical, but finally shrugged. "Fine. Zarya will show you what to do." She turned and went over to Kasey check on his work, a clear dismissal. Without any further conversation, Zarya retrieved the repair materials from the cubby where they were kept, and plopped herself down next to the pile of folded sailcloth. Spreading one of them out on her lap, she threaded the largest needle and got to work. Much as she might hate this, it was the job she'd been given, and she was going to do it.

Mom gingerly sat down next to her and retrieved one of the large pieces of cloth for herself. It took a minute for Zarya to realize that her mother was grumbling under her breath. "If a ship already has an engine, why does it need sails too? Ridiculous."

Zarya eyed her. "Seriously? Keep your voice down; you were the one who followed me here, remember? That means shut your mouth and do what you're told. First of all, the ship has sails for when the wind is enough to power us, and engines for when it's not. If it's nice and windy? We shut off the engine and let it rest. If it's not? Furl the sails, and off we go."

She waited for Mom to nod in understanding before continuing, "Second, don't ever say anything that could be seen as questioning the captain. Onboard her own vessel, nobody—not even you or me—outranks her. That could get you tossed in the brig." She paused to consider. "Or maybe Kitty'll just ban you from ever setting foot on her ship again. Got it?"

Kitty chose that moment to come up behind the two. "Everything going all nice and smooth over here?"

Mom was frowning at the piece of canvas in her hand. Zarya suspected she was regretting signing up for this, but to her credit, she said nothing, her daughter's words from a moment ago clearly still on her mind.

"Why sailcloth, Kitty? I mean, why me?" Zarya asked. "It's not like there's any real need for it."

"Eh, you're right." Kitty shrugged. "I was gonna put Romie on it, since it's a simple enough task and it'd keep her busy for a while. But then…" She motioned toward the queen of Gemina, who had threaded her needle and was attempting to clumsily stitch up a small tear in the foresail. Luckily, she was preoccupied with the task and didn't seem to notice the two teens' attention on her. Zarya got it. Being given this job wasn't for _her_ benefit; it was for the benefit of somebody whose soft hands indicated she'd never done a day of manual labor in her life.

Kitty lowered her voice, so that Zarya was the only one who could hear her. "There was… one other reason I decided to put you on this."

Zarya eyed her expectantly. Kitty continued, "There have been… some people who will remain nameless, who've been saying that you think you're better than us now that you're a princess and all." At Zarya's glare, she hurried to add, " _I_ know that's not true, but… I figured showing them they were wrong this way was easier than trying to talk them out of it. And you did exactly what I hoped you would: you took up the job, without a word of complaint. You didn't even give me the traditional whining They'll have to shut their faces now."

Zarya paused her stitching briefly to quickly reach for Kitty's hand and gave it a squeeze. Kitty returned it, before Zarya pulled her hand back and returned to the repairs at hand. The whole exchange had taken less than three seconds. Kitty straightened. "I have to go check on everyone else, but… well, we haven't had a date in a while. Maybe we could… do that tonight? Once we're all finished here?"

"That… sounds like a plan," Zarya agreed. She had a rare, genuine smile on her face, one without even the slightest hint of sarcasm, as Kitty walked away.

 **Hope you enjoyed that! Despite my best efforts, I'm back to only working on one chapter at a time. But I love playing in the Mysticons universe and I have a whole bunch of other ideas, so you can expect many more chapters in this fic. Please leave a review!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Groan… it took me about three days to write this chapter, and another two days to edit it. There's no excuse for taking this long to update. Hope everyone's staying safe from the virus, and that quarantine isn't getting you too down.**

 **I do not own Mysticons.**

 **Surprises Over Lunch**

Zarya disliked family meals much less now that Gawayne was away, but Mom had informed her and Arkayna that she was going to be having working lunches for the next several days, and not to bother waiting for her. Arkayna had extended the invitation to eat on the balcony with her and Em, but Zarya preferred to eat in the kitchens with her kids.

She knew Piper was looking out for them, but she still worried about them staying healthy. Back on the streets, it had been her greatest fear that one of them would get sick, and they'd have no way to get any treatment.

The simplest solution to _that_ was to check in on them frequently.

"Zarya!" Thea, Brennan, and Jasper all shrieked as she entered. They flung themselves at her, but she'd been expecting it, and managed to keep her balance.

"Whoa, hey, yeah, I'm happy to see you too." Zarya couldn't help grinning. "I'm gonna eat with you today, how's that sound?'

"Excuse me, Your Highness."

Zarya flinched at the title, but turned to face the kitchen assistant. "What?"

The woman dusted the flour off her hands onto her apron. "Your Highness, it is hardly fitting for you to take your lunch with the servants."

"Like I care about what's _fitting_?" Zarya answered, rolling her eyes.

"Hmmph." The kitchen assistant frowned at her un-royal behavior. "Why can't you be more like your sister?"

Zarya glared. "I am _not_ my sister."

She'd had that particular question directed at her a handful of times lately. It was getting old fast.

The various chefs continued to give her judging looks, but they didn't argue when she asked for a sandwich, before very deliberately seating herself on a stool between Brynn and Deirdre. A plate appeared next to her a moment later, and she couldn't quite suppress a smirk of triumph as she picked it up. _Looks like I win this round, snooty kitchen workers._

"So how are your studies going?" Zarya asked in between bites.

Kass immediately lit up. "I love being able to learn new things again! Having access to an entire library… I haven't had that since…" She wilted a bit. "My parents. But it's harder, because I have to help the younger kids and I don't have a whole lot of time to spend with my own books."

Zarya couldn't hide a smile. Despite her best efforts to keep up with her studies on the streets, Kass had always bemoaned the loss of her education; the girl's parents had given her top-tier schooling. She was a bright girl, and Zarya had guessed that Kass would adjust to palace life without too much trouble once that particular benefit had been offered.

"And what about the rest of you?"

Silence. Zarya raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Well, don't all speak up at once."

It was Owen who finally answered. "It's hard. We don't have a teacher so it's up to us—" He indicated himself, Neeko, and Kass, the three oldest. "—to find things to study. And we have no idea what it is they're supposed to be learning."

Zarya frowned. "I'll see what I can do about that."

A loud giggle sounded. Zarya didn't think too much of it, until she went to take another bite of her sandwich and stared at it for a long moment. Finally, she asked neutrally, "Lucy… can you tell me why my sandwich suddenly looks like a frog?"

The youngest of the little group giggled more loudly from her place on Zayne's lap. Lucy was night-and-day different from how she had been on the street. She was much more outgoing, more adventurous, more willing to let go of Zayne's hand now and then. It made Zarya happy to see the changes in the little girl. _See what regular, healthy meals and a safe place to sleep do to a kid?_ Now it looked like her magic was finally manifesting.

Lucy clapped her hands together, and the frog in Zarya's hand turned back into a sandwich. Zarya knew, in her mind, that the snack only looked like it had changed—kitsune magic was mostly illusions—but it was surprisingly difficult to make herself take a bite out of what looked like a slimy frog. She'd eaten some pretty nasty stuff during her time on the streets, but she had to draw the line somewhere.

"Zarya!"

Huh? Zarya looked up to find Arkayna standing in the kitchen doorway, out of breath. "You… you have to come upstairs right away!"

"Uh… I'm in the middle of something right now," Zarya answered, with a pointed glance at her kids. Lucy had squirmed out of Zayne's lap and was running around the room; Zarya, finished with her meal, snatched the toddler up on a pass and plopped the girl down on her own lap, then raised her eyebrows at her sister as if to say _See? Busy._

"Right, but this is important! There's someone here who insists on seeing you." Arkayna waited for her words to have an effect. When they received none, she sighed. "She says she used to know you. When you were a kid."

Zarya snorted. "Right. I've heard that before." She glared at Arkayna. " _You've_ heard that before. People will say anything to get on the royals' good side. Why are you here, then? Obviously, they're all lying."

"That's… that's the thing," Arkayna answered. "I think this one might be telling the truth. She knows you grew up in Marinport. That's not something we made public, when we officially acknowledged you as a princess. So… she might actually be for real."

"Mmm…" Zarya considered it. "She could've found out with a little research… but whatever. I'll go see for myself if she's full of it." She stood up, keeping a tight hold on Lucy. Zayne made as though to take the girl back, but Lucy squealed and clung on to Zarya, using the older girl's jacket as leverage to climb up into a rough piggy-back position. Zarya shrugged at Zayne. "Guess you're comin' with me, huh, Lucy-Lu?" She shifted the toddler's weight on her back and went for the door. "Arkayna, you're in charge of the kids."

Zarya stayed in the doorway long enough to watch Arkayna's expression morph into one of horror at being asked to watch a few kids for a bit. With a chuckle, Zarya headed up the stairs. _Let's see what this mysterious visitor has to say…_

xxxxx

Mom was waiting in the receiving room the royals had taken to using for these open court days, when Zarya threw the doors open and stalked in. "All right, I'm here. What's up?"

Zarya knew she was making something of a scene, barging in like that with a little kid dangling off of her. That was what she was going for, anyway.

"Well…" Mom motioned to the older woman also present in the room. "Zarya, this is Lynette Darkbriar. She came here today to meet you."

Zarya looked the woman up and down. She appeared human, and probably in her fifties, if the lines on her face and the few strands of gray twisting through her chestnut hair were any indication. _Darkbriar… I_ _ **have**_ _heard that name before, haven't I?_

"Hey! There you are, you little escape artist!"

The giggly voice coming from the doorway was one Zarya knew all too well. Piper was standing next to her an instant later, tickling Lucy as the little girl shrieked with laughter, before shooting Zarya an apologetic look. "Sorry, Z. But Lu-Lu and I have to get going." She gently transferred a protesting Lucy from Zarya's back to her own, then gave a merry wave to Zarya, Sarren, and Lynette and skipped off down the hall.

Zarya was still smiling and shaking her head at Piper and Lucy's antics, when a sudden flash of memory sparked in her mind. She looked over the woman in front of her again with renewed interest. "Where did you say you were from?" Her tone was abrupt, but she didn't really have any other settings. She had to find out if this woman was legit.

"Ah… most recently, the town of High Falls," Lynette replied quickly. "But… I only lived there for the past five years. Before that, I was a schoolteacher in the town of Marinport for twenty years." She smiled, although it looked strained, and studied Zarya intently. Zarya did the same, sizing her up in return. "I remembered a student named Zarya Moonwolf, you see, so when I found out the name of the new princess, I became very curious about you."

Marinport… Zarya didn't like thinking about the fate of her hometown. Realistically, she knew that there had _probably_ been other survivors of Kaos's attack, other than herself, Kitty, and Kasey, but on her darkest days she was sometimes sure nobody else could still be alive.

Lynette's story certainly sounded plausible, but… Zarya had to stay on her guard. She couldn't just automatically assume that this wasn't an elaborate scam. Zarya knew _all_ about elaborate scams—they'd been her livelihood for years, after all. She wished Kitty was here; having her best friend nearby always helped her think more clearly.

As though thinking her name had summoned her, Kitty herself stuck her head around the door. "Hey Z-Star, you in here…"

Zarya grinned at her girlfriend, then turned back around… only to realize that Lynette was staring at Kitty like… well, like she'd seen a ghost. Lynette's voice sounded faint as she whispered, "J-Jocelyn?"

 _Oh._ Zarya realized Lynette must think that she was _actually_ seeing a ghost. It struck her, for the first time, how much Kitty looked like her mom. Jocelyn Boon had had the same dark curls and golden eyes, and Kitty looked much older than her sixteen years… no wonder Lynette had called her Jocelyn.

Kitty's expression cycled through fear, sadness, suspicion, hope, before finally shaking her head. "N-no. I'm Kitty. But… I know… I look like her."

There was no doubt in Zarya's mind now, that Lynette Darkbriar was who she said she was. If she'd been a teacher in Marinport, she would have worked closely with Jocelyn—the village hadn't been very large, and everyone knew each other to some degree.

Kitty was trying her best to keep her feelings off her face. Zarya knew what it looked like to see Kitty fighting to hide her emotions. She hated seeing Kitty like that, but she was standing close enough to reach out and squeeze her hand if necessary. Sarren was still there, but she was being as unobtrusive as possible, letting the reunion continue as she stood as far back as she could.

Zarya had one single question she was burning to know the answer to. "How did you survive when Marinport was attacked?"

Lynette's eyes filled with sympathy. "I wasn't there. I had gone to visit my sister in Hazelton, and when I heard the town had been destroyed…" She sighed.

Kitty squeezed Zarya's hand hard. "My… my parents—"

Her face was filled with equal parts hope and terror. Zarya squeezed her hand back, just as hard. But Lynette shook her head. "I'm so sorry, dear."

It was heartbreaking to see Kitty's face falling. Zarya carefully reached out and squeezed Kitty around her waist, drawing a look of sudden realization from Lynette. Thankfully, the older woman seemed to understand that this wasn't the time to comment on their relationship and kept quiet.

"Lynette," Zarya said slowly, "are you still a teacher?"

"I—well, technically," Lynette answered. "Officially, I'm retired, but it has been several years and I would very much like to get back into the classroom."

Zarya smiled, the first real smile she'd given since coming face to face with Lynette. "Then I would like to offer you a job here in the palace."

Lynette looked bewildered. "You want me… to be your teacher?"

"Not for me," Zarya answered. "Here, come with me and I'll show you what I mean."

Mom wouldn't dare object. Zarya had taken on enough responsibility in taking care of her kids that it was starting to affect her own studies. And despite her best efforts, Zarya wasn't a teacher. Having someone who was to teach the kids could only be a good thing.

She hoped the kids would still be in their makeshift classroom, and she was relieved when she threw the door open to find them in there. Every one of them looked up when she entered, except for Kass, who had her nose buried in a book.

"Everybody," Zarya announced, grinning, "meet your new schoolteacher."

 **The other day, I wrote out a timeline for the next several chapters, and a rough outline for each one. Since I can't go out, I'm gonna try to work on one of them every day, at least a little. Stay tuned for more coming soon, and please leave me a review!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Welcome back to the number one most-reviewed Mysticons Fic on FFN! Seriously can't believe the amount of support I've gotten. This universe is** _ **so**_ **much fun to play around in.**

 **I don't own Mysticons.**

 **Intruder in the Night**

Arkayna set a bookmark between the pages with a sigh. It was nearly midnight; she'd started telling herself _just one more chapter_ three chapters ago. She was probably going to regret this in the morning.

No sooner had she set the book on her night table and reached for her lamp, to turn it off, than a light tapping sounded at her door. Arkayna looked up, startled; besides Mom and Dad, who were probably still working in Mom's office, who else could possibly be awake at this hour? She half though she'd imagined it, until the knock came again, more insistently this time, followed by the door opening.

She wasn't sure who she'd been expecting, but it certainly wasn't a little girl. "Lucy?" she said in a soft voice, recognizing the youngest of Zarya's former gang. "What's going on? Shouldn't you be in bed right now?"

Lucy sniffled, rubbing at her eyes with one fist. "There's a scary lady in Zarya's room."

Arkayna had zero experience with kids, especially not ones as young as Lucy. As quietly as she could, she got up off her bed and crossed the room, kneeling down so she was on the same level as the little girl. "Lucy… are you sure you weren't dreaming?"

" _Not_ dreaming." Lucy shook her head emphatically, a familiar stubborn expression settling onto her face.

"All right…" Arkayna was still a little skeptical, but she didn't want to make the girl cry. Maybe it was best to humor her. "What did the scary lady look like?"

She saw Lucy's lower lip trembling as she answered, "Didn't see her face… White hair. Gray armor."

Arkayna froze. White hair and gray armor? That could _only_ be Tazma. If she was in the palace… Arkayna realized Lucy was still staring at her, eyes wide and fearful. She hurried to comfort the toddler. "You did the right thing coming to tell me." She stood up and very quickly shifted into Mysticon Dragon Mage. Lucy yelped at the bright flash of light; Arkayna patted her head absently while she searched for her phone.

Once it was in her hand, she speedily flicked through her contacts. Zarya was out, unfortunately; as much as Arkayna wanted her sister by her side if it came down to a fight, Zarya was likely already aware of Tazma's presence, and calling her would only tip off the shadow mage that the rest of them knew, too. _I hope she didn't see Lucy escape…_

Arkayna's finger hover over Piper's name, but Piper slept in Zarya's room so often that calling her would probably have the same result of letting Tazma know they were on to her. She scrolled up to Em's contact instead.

Em answered on the first ring. "What's up?"

"Tazma's in the palace," Arkayna told her best friend in a terse voice. "We need to track her down and fight her."

"On my way," Em answered. A click sounded, indicating that she'd ended the call.

Arkayna scrolled down to another contact in her list and, despite the danger to herself, called it without hesitation.

A sleepy voice answered the phone. "You'd better have a good reason for calling me at this hour, princess."

Kitty certainly wasn't pleasant when she first woke up. Arkayna hoped her words would be enough to make the former sky pirate forgive her. "Zarya's in danger. We need you at the palace."

"I'll be there as fast as I can," Kitty answered, suddenly sounding much more alert and clicking off.

Typical Kitty. Luckily that had been all Arkayna needed to tell her. But there was still one more call to make. Malvaron answered on the first ring. "Not that I don't always love to hear from you, but isn't it a little late?"

"Your sister's broken into the palace," Arkayna informed him. "She's after Zarya; we need someone here who can counter her magic! Tell the other Astromancers and get here as soon as you can!"

Lucy had watched her silently throughout the calls, which had only taken a couple minutes. Arkayna looked down at her. "You stay in here where it's safe, all right?"

"No!" Lucy shook her head frantically, her ears pinned flat against her head with fear. She reached out and grabbed Arkayna around her knees; Arkayna had to brace herself on her bed frame to keep her balance.

"All right then…" Arkayna's mind raced, trying to come up with a solution. How did Zarya do it? "Can you… hop up on my back and I can carry you?"

Lucy nodded. With a sigh—she was probably going to regret this more than the staying-up-late-reading—Arkayna let the little girl climb up her. It was an intriguing feeling; she'd never been this close to such a young child, and she'd certainly never let them climb on her. Awkwardly holding the girl's legs with one arm, Arkayna summoned her dragon staff and crept out into the hallway, trying to make as little noise as possible.

Her goal was her mom's office. Sarren often stayed up until after midnight these days, trying to make up for lost time. It was a gamble, but Arkayna suspected she'd still be there, and she needed to warn Mom and Dad to stay out of the way if came down to a magical battle.

Lucy gave a tiny squeak and burrowed into Arkayna's hair. Arkayna froze, listening, trying to hear anything over the pounding of her own heart. Stealth was _not_ her strong suit. If Tazma appeared in front of her right now, it would all be over.

"Where—is it?"

Arkayna heard the words from up ahead. There was no doubt that was Tazma's voice, and she needed to go that way in order to get to the office! How was she going to make it there now?

Well, before she could do anything else, she needed to hide. Tazma's voice was getting louder. Arkayna did her absolute best to squeeze herself into the wall next to an ornamental pillar and doused the light from her staff, desperately hoping that the darkness would be enough to shield her from sight, and that Tazma wouldn't be looking for a Dragon Mage doing her best imitation of architecture.

"You! Stop right there!"

Arkayna stiffened; what poor guard had Tazma come across? She was shocked the next moment, when something green came running out of the darkness. For a split second, she found herself face to face with… _herself?_

The fleeing Dragon Mage winked one lavender eye at her, before vanishing around a corner, Tazma in hot pursuit. Arkayna nearly gasped when she Zarya trailing behind the shadow mage, her eyes eerily blank. _Tazma must have her under mind control!_

Arkayna hadn't been aware of Lucy's fingers digging into her neck until the sensation was gone. Tazma yelled from up ahead, "Where did she go?!"

No matter what happened, Arkayna figured she wasn't going to get a better distraction. She ran down the hall, toward Mom's office once again. As her legs moved, she muttered, "Did you do that, Lucy? Did you make it look like I was running away so Tazma wouldn't see us?"

"Uh-huh," Lucy mumbled. "Magic."

Arkayna was impressed in spite of herself. That had been quick thinking for such a little kid.

She burst into the office, panting, relieved to find both her parents there. Mom looked up as Arkayna stopped short in front of the desk. "What are you doing up at this hour, Arkayna? Dressed like that?"

"Tazma's in the palace," Arkayna gasped out. "She's got Zarya under some kind of mind control. Lucy came to my room and warned me." Willing her staff to vanish, she reached behind her and pulled the kitsune off her back. She shoved the little girl at her parents, ignoring Lucy's protests. "Take her, and get somewhere safe. I don't know what kind of fight this will turn into, and I want you out of the way. We're two Mysticons down; I've called reinforcements, but I don't know how long it'll take them to get here."

She didn't give her parents time to argue, only running back out of the office back the way she'd come. Now that Lucy was safe, her primary objective was stopping Tazma and freeing Zarya from the mage's hold. Not that she knew _how_ she was going to do that just yet.

"You!"

Arkayna smirked at the mage, trying not to let her winded state slow her down. "Well, Tazma. You've resorted to breaking and entering now? Seems a little direct for you; I didn't think you liked to get your hands dirty."

Tazma glowered at her. "You really want to mock me while I have your sister under my control? One word from me, and she'll be like this forever." She snapped her fingers toward Zarya.

"Arkayna!"

She'd recognize that voice anywhere. Malvaron had gotten there faster than she'd expected. Her heart sank when she realized he was alone.

"You won't get away with this, Tazma!" Malvaron yelled, shooting a blast at his sister; she simply dissolved into shadow and reappeared a few feet away.

"Do it, Ranger Puppet," Tazma cooed. "Destroy them!" She raised her arms; wisps of shadow reached out and wound themselves around Malvaron, who yelled in pain.

"Malvaron!" Arkayna yelled, fearing for his life. Tazma had already made it clear that she considered her brother irritating at best, and a threat at worst. At this distance… Zarya wouldn't miss.

"Well, go on then," Tazma said, sounding annoyed at having to repeat herself. "What are you waiting for, my little slave? I said, _destroy_ them!"

Arkayna didn't know why Zarya hadn't made a move yet. She appeared frozen in place, a slight trembling running through her body.

"No." Before Tazma had the chance to register the word, Zarya had reverted to her civilian form, and in one smooth motion, drawn a dagger from her sleeve and whipped it toward the shadow mage, before collapsing to the floor.

"Zarya!" Arkayna ran to her sister, while Malvaron, suddenly freed from Tazma's shadows, landed on his feet and ran forward, his hands glowing violet.

"You little _brat_!" Tazma screamed, one hand pressed to her face. Arkayna saw there was blood leaking between her fingers, and felt a rush of petty satisfaction that Zarya's knife had found its target.

"Tazma!"

A glowing purple unicorn and a flaming golden phoenix materialized from the other end of the corridor. Tazma, growling a number of swear words that Arkayna had only recently learned, seemed to realize she was outnumbered, and promptly dissolved into shadowy mist. In the creatures' wake were Em and Piper, both in uniform. Piper, seeing Zarya on the floor, fell to her knees next to the girl. "Zarya!"

"She's gonna be fine," Malvaron assured the worried elf. "Tazma had her under mind control, and she was able to break free of it somehow. I don't know how exactly; I'll call Proxima and see if she knows anything. For now, Zarya just needs some rest."

"I am so gonna give her what for when she wakes up."

Arkayna turned around to find Kitty standing behind her, hands fisted on her hips, although her mask of casual indifference was slipping, showing just how concerned she was for Zarya's well-being. Without hesitation, Kitty scooped the still-unconscious Zarya into her arms, and stalked off down the hall. Arkayna watched her go.

 _You are really in for it, Z… but I'm so glad you're all right._

 **I'm trying to work on this story a little bit every day. I got so in the groove, this chapter took me all of three days to finish. What did y'all think? Leave a review to let me know!**


	13. Chapter 13

**So… this chapter is sort of a Part 2, a follow-up of the last one. And it's a bit shorter.**

 **I do not own Mysticons.**

 **Recovery**

Zarya wasn't sure why she was sleeping on the couch in her sitting room instead of in her hammock. The sofa was _not_ comfortable. Groaning, she sat up.

Her head was pounding. Moving didn't help.

"Eeee, you're awake!"

Zarya flinched back from the squealing voice right next to her ear. Letting out another groan, she turned her head toward the sound, and found herself face to face… to face, with Piper and Choko.

"How are you feeling?"

And that was Arkayna. Zarya managed a weak grin. "Like I just got run over by Kymraw."

"Well, no wonder." That was… Proxima? Just how many people were in her room right now? The Star-Mistress adopted a businesslike tone. "Do you remember what happened?"

"Uh…" Zarya tried to think. Her mind was kind of hazy… from sleep? Or something else? "Was Tazma in here, or did I just dream that?"

Arkayna shook her head. "No, that was real. She broke in and put some kind of mind control spell on you. Lucy came and warned me what was happening. We confronted Tazma in the corridor, and…" Arkayna trailed off.

"And?" Zarya demanded, her head reeling. Tazma had her under mind control? That was about as creepy as it got. Zarya had to suppress a shudder.

"And… I think you managed to… fight it off somehow?" Em was in here too; Zarya wasn't surprised by this point. "You… um…"

Em's voice was drowned out by a maelstrom of images in Zarya's mind.

 _Tazma standing in the middle of her bedroom._

 _Being ordered to pin the sleeping kids to a wall to deal with later._

 _Following Tazma through the halls, seeing everything through a blank fog._

 _A sudden rush of clarity, and then… darkness._

"Whoa," Zarya muttered, reeling a little. "Okay. I, uh… I think I remember now."

Choko chirped and jumped onto her shoulder. Zarya absently petted the foz while trying to absorb everything that had just bombarded the inside of her brain. If her head hadn't been pounding before…

"Do you know what is was, that allowed you to fight her off?" Proxima asked. "Was it something you did, or something about the spell itself? Maybe Tazma didn't work it correctly?"

Zarya racked her brain for something, anything, that might help, then shrugged helplessly. "I just… I don't know."

"I already _told_ you," came a voice that was as exasperated as it was familiar. "Tazma shouldn't have called her a slave."

Twisting her head, Zarya tried to find the source of the voice. It took a minute, but she finally managed to look directly behind her. Kitty was leaning on the back of the couch, looking deliberately casual.

Arkayna eyed Kitty. "And yet you haven't bothered to elaborate on that."

Kitty's eyes never left Zarya as she answered, "Being called a slave. That's what did it." When everyone gathered still looked clueless, she sighed and continued, "When we marooned Kaos on the island, we all swore—every one of us—that we would never, _ever_ be anyone's slaves again. Obviously, Tazma didn't know that. Her mistake."

Zarya scowled. She wouldn't be surprised if Kitty was one hundred percent right; being called a slave certainly brought up less-than-pleasant memories. Slavery was illegal, but for someone like Kaos, that technicality hardly mattered. She'd suffered the brunt of his anger during her time as part of his unwilling crew, taking beatings meant for others in a desperate attempt to protect them.

She doubted she'd ever stop hating him for what he'd done to them all.

"So… calling you a slave brought up memories of Kaos?" Arkayna repeated.

"Obviously," Zarya muttered, her fists clenching around the hem of her jacket.

"And that gave you the mental strength to fight off Tazma's control?" Proxima mused. "I guess it's possible; any spell to impose your will onto someone else can be overcome if the victim has enough reason to want it gone." She looked back up at Zarya, looking impressed. "You must have an extraordinarily strong will."

Arkayna let out a very un-princess-like snort. "Zarya, strong-willed?"

"Understatement of a lifetime," Kitty finished.

Zarya scowled. "You think you're _so_ funny, don't you…" she grumbled.

Kitty inspected her nails, not entirely managing to hide her smile. "Just know, that if you go and get yourself killed, I will never speak to you again."

"Hey, I didn't _ask_ to be mind-controlled," Zarya snapped, her temper flaring.

Kitty glared at her, all traces of her humor from a moment ago vanishing. "Don't care."

"Ugh, deal," Zarya mumbled. She looked around the room, seeing only Em, Piper, Arkayna, Kitty, Proxima, and Mom standing in the corner. "Hey, where are the kids?"

"In class," Arkayna answered. "None of them wanted to leave, especially Lucy, but Lynette finally convinced them that hovering over you wasn't going to wake you up any faster."

Well, that was a relief, to find out that Tazma hadn't made her do anything to them. These kids were _her_ charges; she'd never forgive herself if something happened to them on her watch, even if she'd been under a spell at the time.

Piper leaped to her feet. "Oops. I promised I'd tell them as soon as you woke up. Gotta go!" She sprinted out of the room.

Zarya could still feel Arkayna's eyes on her. "What?"

"You broke free of Tazma's control," Arkayna answered.

"We've established that," Zarya muttered.

"You threw a knife at her," Arkayna informed her.

"Really?" That certainly sounded like something she'd do, and a second later, the visual appeared in her mind, as clear as could be. "Oh yeaaaah… did I get her?"

Arkayna let a satisfied smile slip. "Oh, you got her, all right. She's going to have a nasty scar on her cheek."

Zarya scowled. "I was aiming for her _neck_." Mind control was no excuse for missing her target, and she crossed her arms and glared at the floor, annoyed.

"Well, I'm glad you missed," Mom broke in, the first thing she'd said since Zarya had woken. "You're not a killer, Zarya. You would have regretted it."

Regretted it? Doubtful. Zarya's gaze shifted down to her lap so she wouldn't have to meet anybody's eyes. Mom was wrong: she _was_ a killer, wasn't she? Kaos wouldn't be dead if she hadn't done what she had. Neither would Necrafa… although maybe that didn't count, since Necrafa had technically been undead to start with? Either way, she didn't regret their deaths at all. Did that make her a terrible person? Or was it justified since it had been self-defense.

Ethics weren't something that Zarya had ever concerned herself with before now. She'd been too focused on simple survival.

"Here." Arkayna waved a plate in front of Zarya's face, startling her out of her reverie. "You hungry?"

"Am I ever," Zarya answered, suddenly realizing how famished she was. She grabbed the plate with both hands and began stuffing her face.

"Well." Proxima stood, stretching. "I should go. Um, but I hope you'll tell me if you remember anything else." She shifted from foot to foot for a minute, apparently not knowing what else to do, before giving an awkward wave to those still present and making for the door.

Arkayna called after her, "Oh, Proxima, are we still on for going skirt shopping next week?"

Proxima, already in the doorway, turned back. "Um, if... if you still want to."

"I absolutely do," Arkayna declared. "We can iron out the details later, but I'll see you then!"

Zarya, still occupied with filling her empty stomach, smiled into her plate. So Arkayna and Proxima were hanging out now? Good. _She_ sure as hex wasn't going skirt shopping anytime soon, and Proxima deserved some time away from the Astromancer Palace now and then. She'd never really gotten the chance to be a teenager, so spending time with Arkayna would be good for both of them.

 **Yep, this one didn't take very long either. I just have to keep working and not give up.**

 **Please leave a review!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Well, here's this. It's shorter than the last few, but I'm working on more.**

 **I don't own Mysticons.**

 **Tough Love**

Zarya had had _enough_ for one day.

Bad enough that Gawayne was home for a visit and was as obnoxious as ever. Did her tutor _really_ need to rub her face in the fact that she didn't know the proper way to greet the different ranks of nobility?

Well, she'd at least gotten some entertainment this morning. Knowing Gawayne was around, she'd stuck a homemade sign onto the bathroom door that read "Gawayne's Throne Room." Her stepbrother had _not_ been amused, which had only made the whole thing funnier. Arkayna had nearly had an aneurysm laughing at it. Mom had made her take it down, but Zarya was pretty sure she'd been trying her best not to smile.

That had been the high point of her day, unfortunately. It had only gone downhill from there. Now, with her hands stuffed in her pockets and a dark look on her face, Zarya was projecting her patented _don't bother me_ attitude. The few people she passed in the hall took one look at her and quickly got out of her way.

She was _almost_ back to her room when a loud wail sounded from the hall she'd just passed. She paused for a second, wondering whether or not she could get away with just walking by, not engaging… then she let out a frustrated growl and, against her better judgement, did a one-eighty, turning back the way she'd come to investigate.

A minute later, Zarya found herself outside Arkayna's door. It wasn't completely closed, and from here, she had a clear view of her sister sobbing on the couch. Zarya tentatively pushed the door open all the way, finding Em sitting next to Arkayna, speaking softly.

"It'll be all right…"

Arkayna's sobs only grew louder. Em glanced up and saw Zarya standing awkwardly in the doorway; she sprang to her feet and crossed the room in three strides.

"Help me! I have no idea what to say to her!"

"Wha—why me?!" Zarya hissed back. "I don't even know what she's upset about!"

Em sneaked a glance back at Arkayna, then lowered her voice even further and whispered back, "Malvaron just broke up with her—over the phone! Can't you do _something_ to get her mind off him? I mean, _you're_ her sister!"

"And _you're_ her best friend!" Zarya shot back, careful to keep her voice low. "Besides, what do _I_ know about dealing with breakups?! I've never broken up with anyone before—you have!"

Normally, something that close to a reprimand would have had Em verbally backtracking, offering excessive apologies. But now she was glaring at Zarya with a fierce look in her lavender eyes. "Just—get in here and say something! Anything!"

Zarya sneaked another look at Arkayna. Her sister _did_ look kind of pathetic. "Fine, but don't yell at me if I only make things worse. Remember, you asked for this." She went over and stood next to Arkayna, not really sure what to do. Arkayna was sniffling and hugging a pillow to her chest, flopped limply on the sofa. Zarya reached out and tentatively patted her sister's hair.

"Boys… are stupid."

Across the room, Em face-palmed, clearly regretting her decision to have Zarya try and cheer up Arkayna. _What did she think was gonna happen?!_

Arkayna raised her face slightly and sniffled again. "Oh yeah? How many boys have _you_ dated?"

Em had returned to Arkayna's side again and glared at Zarya, arms crossed. "Yeah, you're into girls! What gives you the right to say that?"

Zarya silently vowed that the cosmoverse was going to _pay_ for putting her in this situation. "Okay, first of all, I'm not into girls. I'm into Kitty. One girl. Not plural. And second," she added, glaring back at Em, "I don't need to _date_ boys to know they're stupid."

Arkayna half sat up and drew her legs into her chest. "Name _one_ boy that's stupid."

Well, she'd asked for it. "Gawayne." Zarya rolled her eyes; no _way_ was either of them going to disagree with her on that.

Arkayna put the pillow aside and began hugging her knees instead. "Okay, name _two_ boys that are stu—"

"Mathis," Zarya countered. They weren't going to argue with her on _that_ , either.

Arkayna hiccupped. "Name thr—"

"Kasey."

"Hey!" Em protested. "Not cool."

"Seriously?" Zarya stared in disbelief. "Even _you_ have to admit I'm right."

Em was sputtering wordlessly.

"He's pretty, but that's it," Zarya continued. Maybe she was being a little harsh, but come on! She'd known Kasey way longer than Em had. "He uses his good looks to charm his way out of trouble instead of using his head."

Em broke off her sputtering and squinted at Zarya suspiciously. "You… think he's pretty?"

Zarya snorted. "I have _eyes_ , don't I?"

Arkayna startled her by letting out a hiccup-y giggle. Zarya felt a sudden, immense satisfaction. _There, I helped! Are you happy now, Em?_

"Hey guys, I brought the ice cream like you…" Piper, from the doorway, trailed off as she noticed Arkayna's tearstained face. "Whoa, what happened here?"

Arkayna broke into a fresh round of sobbing. Em scooted over and began patting her hair for a minute, before making a snatch for the ice cream. "Just give me that!"

"Okay, okay," Piper answered, handing the tub over to Em. "Sheesh, what's with Arkayna?"

Zarya groaned and leaned back in her seat as Em ran through the situation. She couldn't exactly _leave_ now. Not with Em and Piper both here. Arkayna's breakup had apparently turned into a Mysticon tear-fest.

Em dished up a large bowl of ice cream, then stuck a spoon in it and handed it to Arkayna. The princess accepted it after a minute, and began shoving the chocolatey treat in her face with little care for how it was slopping all over. Zarya raised one eyebrow. The prissy princess was too upset to care about table manners? That was a new one.

"Here, I guess the rest of us can have some," Em remarked, scooping up three more portions of ice cream—much smaller than the one she'd given Arkayna, Zarya noticed. Still, she wasn't about to turn down food. She took the bowl Em offered her and began chowing down, keeping one eye on Arkayna to make sure she didn't choke.

When Arkayna finished her first bowl, Em refilled it wordlessly. Zarya, noting the size of the container, had to suppress another groan.

It was going to be a _long_ night.

 **I hope everyone enjoys this. I know it's not the most uplifting of chapters, but I promise that I'm not torturing Arkayna for the fun of it. I'm not** _ **that**_ **cruel. There's a purpose to this, that I'll address in later chapters. Please leave a review!**


	15. Chapter 15

**It seems that the new norm for this story is: write half a chapter in a single day, leave it for three days or so, come back and write the second half, again in a single day, and then do my edits a week later. Whatever; I mean, it's working, right? Kind of? My motivation to work on this has been down lately (or maybe just focused elsewhere at the moment; I finished drafting my RWBY story about a month ago, but it still needs a lot of editing and I'm really trying to focus on completing it). In either case, here's this!**

 **I do not own Mysticons.**

 **Date Night**

"Where are we going?" Kitty asked, for what was _at least_ the tenth time.

Zarya rolled her eyes. "Would you quit asking? We're almost there."

"That's what you said _last_ time I asked," Kitty pointed out.

"Yeah, because the _last_ time you asked was less than two minutes ago!" Zarya retorted.

Kitty rolled her own eyes but let it go.

Uncertainty about their destination aside, Kitty _was_ enjoying herself. Their last date had fallen through for one reason or another—she couldn't remember why, exactly—so this was their first one in a while. They'd stuffed their faces with Snorg balls and wandered the streets randomly, until Zarya had announced they had somewhere else to go.

Only a minute later, they rounded a corner and Kitty found herself staring at the sign for Phoenix Stadium, the biggest outdoor concert venue in Drake City. Zarya made a beeline for the entrance, dragging Kitty along behind her.

Kitty looked up at the board to see who was playing tonight. She was sure her eyes were huge. "Vesper and the Phantoms? This concert's been sold out for months!"

Zarya grinned crookedly. "I know."

"Are we sneaking in?" Kitty asked. She was surprised to find that she wasn't as enthused with the idea as she might have been. While she'd lived for so long with complete disregard for the law, she'd been trying hard to keep her hands clean recently, to stay on the queen's good side. Apparently, it had had a greater effect on her than she realized.

"Nope." Zarya reached into her pocket and withdrew a pair of tickets. She handed one to Kitty, who took it, completely mind-boggled at what she read there.

"Z-star, these are backstage passes! How'd you even _get_ these?!"

Zarya smirked at her. "The Mysticons did Vesper a favor a while back. She sent us these tickets a few days ago, as a thank you. I had to fight Em for these, you know."

"Fight her? You saying Vesper only sent two tickets?" That didn't seem right.

"Nah." Zarya grinned. "There were four in there, one for each of us I guess, but… well, Arkayna's still not up for much in the way of _fun_ after her breakup, and Piper's not really into concerts. Me and Em were the only ones who wanted the tickets, and… I wasn't super thrilled with her idea of joining us."

"Didn't want a third wheel?" Kitty asked, quirking an eyebrow teasingly.

Zarya rolled her eyes. "Better a third wheel than a double date—she wanted to bring Kasey."

Kitty cringed at the idea of double dating with her little brother.

"Anyway, Vesper's playing two shows, so we ended up drawing straws to see who got to go first," Zarya finished.

"Huh." Kitty had no idea what to make of that.

She still hadn't completely wrapped her head around the fact that she was dating a princess. Zarya was still Zarya, the same girl who'd shoved her in a mud puddle at four years old, the one who confided in her earlier that she was starting to find palace life suffocating.

Early on their relationship, it hadn't mattered. It had only started causing some tension between them later, to the point that Kitty thought they would have broken up if they'd been speaking to each other at the time. She was just glad they'd made up before she'd taken her crew into the other realm to hunt those creepy marauders with the cloaks.

But Zarya hadn't changed. Kitty was more grateful for that every day.

Zarya held out her ticket to the attendant, who scanned it, bored. "Second door on your left once you get inside, have it scanned again before you try to go in."

Kitty did the same thing and received the same instructions. Zarya led her inside, stopping next to the aforementioned door. The attendant here looked a little more alert, and waved them through after scanning their tickets.

Zarya stopped short once through the door, abruptly enough that Kitty nearly bumped into her. "Whoa! Hey, what's up? Why'd you stop?"

"I don't… really know where I'm going," Zarya admitted.

"That's all right," another voice interjected. "No need to go any farther."

"Vesper!" Zarya greeted the banshee so excitedly that Kitty felt a flare of envy. "So great to see you again!"

"And you as well, Mysticon Ranger," Vesper answered, giving a crooked smile and winking. "Or is it 'Your Highness' today?"

Zarya's grin turned into more of a grimace. "It's just Zarya."

Vesper eyed Zarya for a moment longer, then shrugged. "If you say so." She turned slightly, meeting Kitty's eyes and grinning. Kitty met her gaze without flinching. "And who is this?"

Kitty couldn't help staring.

Zarya pulled Kitty a little closer. Vesper wouldn't be able to miss the subtext unless she was completely clueless, and Zarya's next words left no room for misinterpretation. "This is Kitty. My girlfriend."

"Hmm…" Vesper looked disappointed for a hair of a second, then shrugged again. "Well, any friends of the Mysticons are friends of mine." A loud gong sounded. "That's my cue. Gotta go—it was nice meeting you!"

Vesper bustled off to someone standing off to the side, retrieving a tiny microphone that got pinned to her jacket, before disappearing onstage. Kitty leaned her head on Zarya's shoulder. "Correct me if I'm wrong… but Vesper was just hitting on me, yes?"

Zarya's turquoise eyes flickered. "Sure sounded like it to me."

"Well, that's… new." Nobody had ever found Kitty Boon worth flirting with before. The sarcastic quips she and Zarya constantly shot at each other didn't count—maybe they _should_ count, but they'd been slinging those back and forth for almost as long as they'd known each other, and that hadn't changed even when their relationship _had_. She poked Zarya in the ribs. "Jealous?"

"Not _even_ ," Zarya muttered, poking her back.

Kitty grinned, leaning over and resting more of her weight on her girlfriend. So what if Vesper found her worth hitting on? It was flattering, but she wasn't interested. She had Zarya, and that was all that really mattered.

 **Another short one. I haven't been able to make as much progress on this as I'd like in recent weeks. There's one future scene that's been on my mind a** _ **lot**_ **, but it's a ways down the line and I really don't want to start in on that just yet.**

 **At any rate, please review! I love hearing from readers!**


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